Journal of opioid management
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Randomized Controlled Trial
PCA-derived factors that may be predictive of postoperative pain in pediatric patients: a possible role for the PCA ratio.
No method exists to reliably predict which patients will develop severe postoperative pain. The authors hypothesized that data derived from patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) pumps (specifically the ratio of patient demands to pump deliveries) may predict which patients would develop severe pain after scoliosis repair. ⋯ Patients who developed severe postoperative pain and met the criteria for opioid rotation demonstrated significantly increased PCA ratios of demand to delivery as early as 8 hours after surgery.