The Clinical journal of pain
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Pediatric PCA: the role of concurrent opioid infusions and nurse-controlled analgesia.
We designed a clinical study to determine: a) the safety and efficacy of patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) therapy in children and adolescents undergoing major operations, b) if the use of a concurrent opioid infusion improved the efficacy of conventional PCA therapy, and c) if nurse control of the PCA device was a useful alternative in the intensive care unit (ICU) setting. ⋯ Both PCA and NCA were safe and efficient methods of analgesic administration in the pediatric ICU setting. However, use of a concurrent opioid infusion with PCA therapy did not provide any clinically significant advantages over intermittent bolus doses of the analgesic medication after scoliosis surgery. For patients unable to use a conventional PCA device, NCA is an acceptable alternative for the management of acute pain in the ICU setting.