Patients' experiences of patient controlled analgesia (PCA) postoperatively

Abstract

The aim of the study was to examine the patients' experience of PCA by the use of semi structured interviews with 12 patients who underwent gynaecology surgery, a day after discontinuation of the device. The opinions expressed by the patients were examined both qualitatively and quantitatively. The areas of interest were patient satisfaction, side effects and concerns with PCA, reasons for pressing and not pressing the button and the control provided by PCA over their pain. Findings demonstrated that patients generally described PCA positively, with the majority of patients choosing the most positive responses on several questions. The efficacy of pain relief and control were also seen as major benefits of this pain modality; however one patient perceived the traditional method of pain relief i.e. intramuscular injections to be more effective. Side effects such as nausea and vomiting were also reported and it hindered two patients from pressing the button when they wanted pain relief. A feature of this study is the lack of pre-operative instructions, were the majority of patients stated that the information provided was insufficient. Another interesting point that emerged from the study is that patients would have preferred to remain connected to the pump for their second postoperative day. As a result of this study recommendations are made for improvements to the present situation and for further research to be carried out.