POSTOPERATIVE PAIN RELIEF, FROM THE PATIENTS AND THE NURSES POINT-OF-VIEW

In this prospective, consecutive study 191 patients were interviewed b efore and after surgery (orthopaedic, gynaecological, abdominal and ur ological operations) about their attitude to and the quality of receiv ed pain relief, respectively. In addition, nurses working in the surgi cal units involved in the study were asked to answer a questionnaire c overing attitudes to postoperative pain and pain treatment. Of the pat ients, 47% were in pain at the time of the postsurgical interview, 10% had not any analgesic prescribed at all and 15% had received less tha n prescribed. In 36% of the cases there was a discrepancy between the amount of analgesic prescribed by the surgeon and the amount prescribe d by the anaesthetist. In 80% of the patients the pain outlasted the f irst postoperative day, but only 64% would always tell the staff if th ey had pain. Seventeen per cent of the patients had never been asked a bout their postoperative pain status. Preoperative pain had a signific ant correlation to postoperative pain. Although the results are not im pressive, they do constitute some improvement compared to previously p ublished studies. Fifty-one nurses (71% of the total nursing staff) an swered the questionnaire. Of these, 63% were sometimes in doubt about the physicians' prescriptions, 55% would occasionally refuse to give a nalgesics for various reasons, and 37% were not satisfied with the rou tines of pain control in their ward. Conclusion: Knowledge of pain tre atment and communication between surgeons, anaesthesiologists, nurses and patients must be improved to make postsurgical pain relief adequat e.