[Organization model for postoperative pain management in a basic-care hospital]

[Organization of pediatric pain management: Austrian interdisciplinary recommendations for pediatric perioperative pain management]

BACKGROUND

Postoperative pain management is still in need of vast improvement, especially for children. The aim of this article is to demonstrate which structures and processes must be optimized to ultimately improve patient satisfaction and safety.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Basic prerequisites are among others personnel continuity and good cooperation in a multiprofessional team. A clear assignment of responsibilities is also of essential importance.

PATIENT HISTORY AND INFORMED CONSENT

On admission every patient should be questioned on the currently existing pain. Patients or the parents must be informed about the pain therapy in a comprehensible manner. Possible complications, chances of success, advantages and disadvantages of the planned procedure and alternative forms of treatment must be discussed.

IMPLEMENTATION

The implementation needs a great deal of consideration. The introduction of clearly defined pathways and thorough schooling contribute more to successful pain management than the establishment of pain measurement or the use of special techniques alone.

EVALUATION AND DOCUMENTATION

Because pain intensity can only be described indirectly it is difficult to assess in children. Assessment is made by another person until children are 5 years old. The gold standard in pain measurement is, however, self-estimation using appropriate scales which is possible for older children. The routinely carried out representation of pain values and prompt documentation of all pain therapeutic measures are indispensible for the control and optimization of pain therapy.

QUALITY OF RESULTS

Whether improvements in acute pediatric pain therapy will actually be achieved can only be realized by standardized compilation and analysis of the quality of therapy. For this purpose QUIPSInfant was developed.

[Quality assurance in acute pain therapy : Development of software for the acute pain service]

A detailed documentation system is essential for an effectively working acute pain service. Patient-related documentation aids the physician with check lists and algorithms and may thus further improve clinical practice. As adequate software was missing, we developed a database that was first adapted to the in-house conditions, but can also be adjusted to other surroundings. By integrating "one-click documentation" and new codes for clinical observations, a user-friendly software was created that notably improved the quality of documentation. In the first test period more than 30,000 ward rounds were collected, and a considerably improved documentation quality could be achieved.

[Implementation of standardized postoperative pain therapy for orthopaedic patients. Comparison between unsystematic and standardized pain therapy]

BACKGROUND

The painless clinic and postoperative pain therapy are currently major issues in the management of surgical procedures. The aim of this study was to evaluate the benefit of a standardized pain therapy on the postoperative pain level after orthopaedic procedures.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

We investigated two different groups of patients who underwent an orthopaedic surgical procedure. Group 1 (n = 249) received a pain therapy which was based on an individual and surgery-dependent concept whereas group 2 (n = 243) was treated with a standardized pain therapy concept. The effect of the treatment was monitored with a VAS-based protocol.

RESULTS

Up to day 9 after surgery there was a significant difference between the two groups in regard to the postoperative pain. The patients of group 2 had less pain but had more unwanted side effects caused by the pain therapy during the first 3 days after surgery. Mobility and mental disposition were positively affected.

CONCLUSION

The implementation of a standardized pain therapy is successful in reducing postoperative pain. Mobility and mental disposition are also influenced positively. As a consequence the incidence of unwanted side effects is rising.

[Implementation of a standardized perioperative pain management concept in three hospitals of a consortium]

BACKGROUND

Provision of sufficient perioperative pain therapy is an obligation in the clinical management of patients suffering from pain. The implementation of a standardized pain management concept was planned to be introduced in the clinical routine. The results of three hospitals are shown.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The concept included tools which gave information about legal aspects and basic fundamentals of pain relief, management modules regarding agreements on the implementation of perioperative pain therapy, instruments to measure pain intensity, assigning accountability and documentation modules. Questionnaires were carried out according to Picker.

RESULTS

The project revealed that, according to the Picker questionnaire, about 50% of the patients treated in the hospitals had pain, 30-40% still had intensive pain during the stay in hospital and 90% of the patients received pain relief medication within 10 min of the request. More than 78% of the patients thought the hospital staff did their best to relieve the pain and over 92% found the pain treatment adequate.

CONCLUSION

It was possible to implement a standardized perioperative pain therapy concept in three hospitals of a consortium. Whether an adequate pain relief can be improved with the help of standard measurements and documentation, could not be evaluated in this study.

[Post-operative pain management in orthopaedic surgery and traumatology]

Provision of sufficient post-operative pain therapy is an obligation in the clinical management of patients. A wide range of medical, technical and organizational options is used to improve post-operative pain management in orthopaedic surgery. Measurement of pain is as important as the correct use of analgesics and application techniques. Standardized pain therapy algorithms should facilitate autonomous treatment of patients. Additional procedures like patient-controlled analgesia or local catheter for pain are necessary for individualized or operation-specific pain therapy. The balanced combination in postoperative pain therapy could reduce side effects and complication rates, increase mobility and enhance patient satisfaction.