Association Between Acute Pain and Hemodynamic Parameters in a Postoperative Surgical Intensive Care Unit

I conducted a prospective repeated-measure study in the general surgery intensive care unit to investigate the associations among acute postoperative pain, analgesic therapy, and hemodynamic parameters. I selected 33 patients and recorded 84 episodes of pain. I measured intensity of pain and hemodynamic parameters after patients were transferred from the postanesthesia care unit to the general surgery intensive care unit, immediately before analgesic therapy and at 15, 30, and 45 minutes after analgesic therapy. Acute pain increased systolic (SBP), diastolic (DBP), and mean arterial blood pressure (MAP); pulse rate (PR); and arterial oxygen saturation. Fifteen minutes after analgesic therapy, SBP and PR decreased, and DBP, MAP, and oxygen saturation increased. Thirty minutes after therapy, SBP, MAP, and PR decreased, and DBP and oxygen saturation increased. Forty-five minutes after therapy, SBP, MAP, and PR decreased, and DBP and oxygen saturation increased. I saw no significant hemodynamic parameter changes during postoperative episodes of pain.