General Principles of Perioperative Pain Management

Perioperative pain managementPerioperative pain management is founded on the science and understanding of acute painAcute pain. The analgesicAnalgesics process begins with a preoperative evaluation that focuses on screening and making strategic assessmentsAssessment to individualize painPain therapy. This information is inserted into a multimodal analgesiaMultimodal analgesia framework, with or without the aid of standardized protocols, such as Enhanced RecoveryEnhanced recovery Protocols, and used as a basis to inform and educate patients on planned therapeutics and expected analgesicAnalgesics outcomes. The framework is then utilized to craft a pain managementPain management strategy that is patient and pain mechanism-specific and employs pharmacologic therapies, nonpharmacologic therapies, and interventional therapies that mitigate pain and the physiologic stresses of surgery. Frequent assessmentAssessment and reassessment are used to fine-tune therapy and assist the patient in mitigating pain and helping them progress along their goals for functional recovery.