AORN journal
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Knowledge of the effectiveness of multimodal analgesic treatments to manage children's postoperative pain during hospital stays is limited. Our retrospective chart review of a convenience sample of 200 pediatric surgical patients' pain experiences during the first 24 hours after laparoscopic appendectomy demonstrates the benefits of a multimodal analgesic approach. ⋯ Patients who received perioperative IV ketorolac (M = 0.94, SD = 0.71) also received significantly fewer morphine equivalents of postoperative opioids during the first 24 hours after surgery than those who did not (M = 1.21, SD = 0.78, t = 2.41, P = .02). We will use data from these patients to introduce the potential for a personalized medicine approach to postoperative pain.