Pain research and treatment
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Interventional Pain Management (IPM) is performed in multidisciplinary chronic pain clinics (MCPC), including a range of invasive techniques to diagnose and treat chronic pain (CP) conditions. Current patterns of use of those techniques in MCPC have not yet been reported. ⋯ IPM are seldom prescribed in Portuguese MCPC. Further studies on IPM safety and effectiveness are necessary for clear understanding the role of these techniques in CP management.
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Background. Elderly patients have unique age-related comorbidities that may lead to an increase in postoperative complications involving neurological, pulmonary, cardiac, and endocrine systems. There has been an increase in the number of elderly patients undergoing surgery as this portion of the population is increasing in numbers. ⋯ Regional anesthesia as part of multimodal perioperative treatment can often reduce postoperative neurological, pulmonary, cardiac, and endocrine complications. Regional anesthesia/analgesia has not been proven to improve long-term morbidity but does benefit immediate postoperative pain control. In addition, multimodal drug therapy utilizes a variety of nonopioid analgesic medications in order to minimize dosages and adverse effects from opioids while maximizing analgesic effect and benefit.
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This study explores sociodemographic, clinical, and surgical factors in relation to pain trajectories during the first 3 days following total knee arthroplasty (TKA). 100 patients (mean age 63.5 ± 7.8 years and 93% female) consecutively admitted for uncomplicated primary TKA were prospectively included. Postoperative pain was assessed using pain diaries. Measures of preoperative pain, symptoms, daily functioning, quality of life, comorbidities, knee function, perioperative characteristics, and physical/biochemical parameters were also evaluated. ⋯ Patients reporting moderate/severe pain prior to surgery also reported more hours in moderate/severe pain on days 0-3 postoperatively (p = .029). Patients with surgeries longer than 90 min reported more hours of moderate/severe pain compared with patients who had shorter surgeries (p = .008), and similar results were observed for ratings of pain with activity (p = .012). In this sample, only female gender, higher levels of preoperative pain and anxiety, and longer surgical duration were associated with increased pain after TKA.
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A recent publication reported the incidence of postdural puncture headache (PDPH) in conjunction with intrathecal drug delivery system (IDDS) implantation to be nearly 23 percent. Many patients responded to conservative measures but a percentage needed invasive treatment with an epidural blood patch (EBP). There is limited data to describe the technical details, success rates, and complications associated with EBP in this population. ⋯ The mean EBP volume was 18.6 cc and median time of EBP was day 7 after implant. There were no complications associated with EBP. EBP appears to be an effective intervention in this subset of PDPH patients.
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Postoperative pain management is one of the most challenging jobs in orthopedic surgical population as it comprises of patients from extremes of ages and with multiple comorbidities. Though effective, opioids may contribute to serious adverse effects particularly in old age patients. Intravenous paracetamol is widely used in the postoperative period with the hope that it may reduce opioid consumption and produce better pain relief. ⋯ However, one study did not find any reduction of opioid requirement after spinal surgery in children and adolescent. Four clinical trials reported better pain scores when paracetamol has been used, but other three trials denied. We conclude that postoperative intravenous paracetamol is a safe and effective adjunct to opioid after orthopedic surgery, but at present there is no data to decide whether paracetamol reduces opioid related adverse effects or not.