THE RELATIVE EFFECTS OF ANALGESIC THERAPY ADMINISTERED BEFORE, DURINGOR AFTER SURGICAL INJURY

Persistent post-operative pain is characterized by hyperalgesia and al lodynia. Both nociceptor and spinal cord sensitization are implicated in this form of neuroplasticity. In animal models it has been demonstr ated that this sensitization can be prevented by the prophylactic use of analgesics (pre-emptive analgesia). However, a number of clinical s tudies in man have failed to confirm a significant pre-emptive analges ic effect in the modern surgical setting. The possible reasons for thi s failure of correlation between the animal and human studies are disc ussed.