Longnecker's Anesthesiology > Part 5. Postoperative Care of the Anesthesia Patient > Chapter 74. Management of Acute Postoperative Pain Jane C. Ballantyne, MD, FRCA

Key Points

"1. Analgesia, as distinct from hypnosis, is a vital and integral component of anesthesia.

2. Anesthesiologists must plan for the continuum of intra- and postoperative pain.

3. The principles of "opioid-sparing" or "multimodal analgesia" are central to the goal of rapid recovery as opioid side effects delay recovery.

4. Patient-controlled analgesia has greatly facilitated acute pain management at both provider and institutional levels.

5. Epidural analgesia continues to play an important role in the treatment of pain after major intraabdominal and thoracic surgery, although the benefit versus risk should be reexamined in an era of potent thrombosis prophylaxis.

6. Chronic opioid use and abuse are emerging as prominent challenges during acute pain treatment.

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