A survey of postoperative pain management in fourteen hospitals in the UK

Pain was managed well in recovery rooms but less well on the wards. Epidural analgesia gave significantly better pain scores than other therapies. Better pain relief was obtained if opioids were combined with NSAIDs than when given alone. There were marked differences between hospitals in the delivery of postoperative analgesia. Pain scores in most hospitals left room for improvement, particularly following abdominal hysterectomy, but patient satisfaction was good. The better efficacy of multimodal analgesia was confirmed. Evidence from this data for the effectiveness of multidisciplinary acute pain services was equivocal.