An audit of pain management at a tertiary care center

Abstract

Introduction: Pain management is a vital part of postoperative treatment. Pain management in the postoperative period is based on a number of factors such as the extent of surgery, patient profile and surgeon experience, etc. The numbers of subjective scoring system were proposed to scale the severity of pain. Materials and Methods: This prospective audit was performed between November 2015 to January 2016. Pain scores were recorded in all patients underwent surgery for initial three days by numerical rating scale (NRS). Results: A total of 92 patients were included in this audit. The patients were broadly divided into the two groups: non-malignancy group and malignancy group. Pain scores were found higher in adult patients, in malignancy patients, and in patients who require wide excision. The scores were found on the lower side in the ear and throat surgery group in comparison to the nose surgery group. Discussion: Postoperative pain is an individual multi-factorial experience. Poor management is likely to increases the chances of local and systemic complications and delays in the recovery of the patients. Appropriate selection of analgesics would reduce hospital financial burden to a great extent but the side effect profile of each drug should be kept in mind.