Anesthesia and postoperative pain control following spine surgery

The focus of this manuscript will be to discuss the evidence supporting the various modalities, routes of administration, and timing of analgesic medication in the setting of spine surgery. We outline the evidence supporting multi-modal analgesia and describe strategies to optimize pain control while limiting opioid use. We discuss the importance of pre-emptive analgesia, optimal intraoperative pain regimens and non-opioid alternatives that may be used to help treat post-operative pain. The role of regional anesthesia as an adjunct to oral medications is also discussed.