Post-operative pain relief : patient controlled analgesia versus epidural

Abstract

Unfortunately, even-though a lot progress has been done in pain relief, postoperative pain is often mismanaged. This not only makes the patient feel the pain but also brings particularly detrimental physical effects upon the patient. Consequently, more hospital resources and time are utilised. Also, offering the patients the best pain relief method can reduce serious consequences. The research question of this study is "Post-operative pain relief: Patient controlled Analgesia versus Epidural. The population is made up of people who undergone major surgery; the intervention is that of post-operative pain relief, while the comparison is PCA pump or Epidural infusion. Hence the outcome highlights which intervention provides the most beneficial effect postoperatively. Data was gathered through the use of articles according to inclusion criteria. This includes articles regarding the IV-PCA, studies mentioning males and females as well as those about the side effects that occur postoperatively. However, exclusion criteria incorporated non-English articles and articles relating to labour in which epidural is used. Other studies excluded ranged from paediatrics to 18 year olds. Pre-1980 articles were also eliminated. 12 articles, 5RCT's, 5COHORT's and 2Reviews, were then appraised using the CASP tools. Consequently, the articles covered showed that the epidural was utilised more than the PCA. Future studies based on clinical trials need to be conducted as regards the drug used in the epidural, while the patient is monitored on a 48hour period. Protocols also need to be formulated for the benefit of ward nurses and patients.