Der Orthopäde
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Surgery of the shoulder, elbow, and hand can cause considerable pain. According to data from randomized controlled trials, local or regional anesthesia is recommended for analgesia during and after surgery of the upper extremity. ⋯ For the elbow joint, a peripheral block is also recommended to allow for effective analgesia and physiotherapy postoperatively. In addition, cooling and physiotherapeutic techniques are beneficial in postoperative management.
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This article describes the history of pain therapy and anesthesiology with respect to the field of surgery. The history of this part of medicine is dependent upon the development of the appropriate medication groups, which were of great importance in the field of pain therapy and anesthesiology. ⋯ The above mentioned developments combined with the knowledge of physiology of pain and new results from psychological studies led to the modern pain therapy in recent perioperative treatment concepts. Modern pain therapy is a multimodal therapy concept with a variety of specialties working as a team to optimize an individualized therapy plan which respects the needs of every single patient under different circumstances (acute, perioperative and chronic pain).
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Comparative Study
[Value of adjuvant physiotherapy in postoperative pain management].
In times of limited financial and human resources the application of adjuvant physiotherapy postoperatively in orthopaedic patients requires reevaluation. In the early postoperative course physiotherapy improves the patients' mobility. However, it is not able to reduce the need for pain medication. ⋯ In contrast, massages are of minor importance in the immediate postoperative course and are applied only in a few selected cases. Cryotherapy plays a major role especially after shoulder and knee surgery. On the other hand, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) and acupuncture are applied only in selected patients after orthopaedic surgery, e.g., after limb amputation.
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Pain therapy after surgical procedures of the lower extremity is an important goal, whereas insufficient analgesia leads to an essential reduction of the patient's mobility and convalescence. If possible, regional anaesthetic and intrathecal procedures for pre-, intra- and postoperative analgesia should be used. Systemic analgesics should not be used preoperatively, whereas non-opioids and opioids are recommended postoperatively. ⋯ There is no scientific rationale as an argument for inserting drains. The surgical approach depends more on the individual patient's anatomical characteristics. Whereas the regional analgesic regimen is more effective than systemic therapy, sufficient tools for pain reduction during surgical procedures of the lower extremity are at the orthopaedic surgeon's disposal, too.
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A dorsal approach during spinal surgery offers the possibility to distribute drugs directly to the nerve root or epidurally. This can be done via a single intraoperative dose or by placing an epidural catheter. A safe and effective analgesia can thereby be achieved. ⋯ Here the local application of local anesthetics or opioids makes sense. In transthoracic approaches epidural analgesia is recommended by thoracic surgeons, but this is difficult to perform especially in children with deformities. Furthermore it is generally important not to compromise neuralgic controls by analgesic measures.