Practice Advisory for Postoperative Pain Management of Cardiac Surgical Patients: A Report by Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists

Moderate to severe pain after cardiac surgery is relatively common, which increases the risk of postoperative cardiopulmonary complications and delays hospital discharge. Opioids have been useful agents for postoperative pain control after cardiac surgery, but are associated with serious adverse effects. As a result, multimodal analgesia has been adopted widely to decrease reliance on opioids for treating postoperative pain, reduce opioid-related adverse effects, and promote early recovery. The advent of fascial plane blocks has expanded the use of regional analgesia for pain management after cardiac surgery that was otherwise limited due to the fear of devastating neurological sequelae in the setting of systemic anticoagulation. This practice advisory reviews and evaluates the recent literature related to the use of pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies to treat pain after cardiac surgery to help providers with the selection of appropriate pain management interventions for their patients.