Patient-Controlled Analgesia

PCA refers to methods of pain relief that allow a patient to self-administer small doses of an analgesic agent as required. Most often, the term PCA refers to programmable infusion pumps that deliver opioid medications IV, although many other methods and routes of delivery using opioids as well as other analgesic agents have been described (SC, epidural, IT, SL, IN, oral, pulmonary, and TD). In addition to treating postoperative pain, PCA is used for pain following trauma and with cancer.