Multimodal anesthesia: integrated strategies to improve pain management and recovery: a literature review

Abstract

With the overprescription of opioids fueling the opioid epidemic, postoperative pain management has emerged as a crucial component of surgical treatment. The shift to multimodal anesthesia as a substitute for postoperative pain management is examined in this review of the literature, with a focus on the contribution of ERAS protocols to lower opioid use and enhance patient outcomes. A methodical exploration of PubMed, Google Scholar, and Scopus was carried out to ascertain pertinent publications released during the last five years. Included were articles on non-opioid analgesics, local anesthetic, regional anesthesia, and multimodal analgesia approaches. Targeting different pain pathways and lowering opioid use, multimodal anesthesia incorporates a number of drugs and strategies, such as NSAIDs, acetaminophen, gabapentin, dexamethasone, and NMDA receptor antagonists. Research indicates that multimodal anesthesia is beneficial in lowering postoperative pain, improving healing, and minimizing opioid-related side effects in a variety of surgical specialties. By placing an emphasis on customized preoperative and postoperative therapies, the use of ERAS protocols further optimizes perioperative care. Multimodal anesthesia reduces postoperative pain, shortens hospital stays, and enhances patient satisfaction, according to studies. Nevertheless, obstacles including insufficient funding and poor training prevent regional anesthesia methods from being widely used. To address the effects of the opioid crisis on patient health and healthcare systems, as well as to advance surgical treatment, it is imperative that multimodal anesthesia procedures be clinically implemented and researched further.