Abstract
Most foreign studies still state that, despite all the existing recommendations for the treatment of acute postoperative pain, approximately 30-40% of patients have severe pain after surgery. We do not have more extensive epidemiological data from the Czech Republic.
However, it can be reasonably assumed that the situation in our country is not better than in the mentioned countries. Based on the data that over 800,000 general and regional anesthesia for surgical procedures are administered to us every year, it is easy to calculate that 250-300 thousand patients have significant postoperative pain each year, which can last for several days.
It is important that the problem of unresolved postoperative pain is a highly preventable problem and usually relatively easy to solve. At present, there are not only enough drugs, dosage forms and treatment modalities, but also enough literature data, incl. knowledge of the organization of postoperative pain treatment.
The main difficulty lies in translating this knowledge into everyday practice. We can think about the reasons for insufficient control of postoperative pain in the Czech Republic.
Undoubtedly, these include limited financial resources, lack of time, but also the desire to address the issue, organizational aspects of the medical facility and the lack of simple and clear recommendations for the treatment of postoperative pain. In the Czech Republic, however, we cannot complain about the lack of concise literary sources; the monograph Treatment of Postoperative Pain has been published four times with gradual adjustments and additions.
This happened for the first time in 2009, when it was written as a more detailed version of the CSARIM Recommended Procedure for Acute Postoperative Pain from 2008. This time we chose the opposite procedure - after fourteen years a new DP Treatment of Acute Postoperative Pain was created, based on the fourth edition of the monograph.
The recommended procedure is intended for all physicians, especially clinical disciplines, and not only anesthesiologists or postoperative pain specialists. It is not without interest that even patients with high intensity of postoperative pain often report satisfaction with postoperative treatment.
The causes are multifactorial, in addition to the intensity of pain, this includes the friendly approach of staff, the absence of other postoperative complications, the interval between analgesic administration and the onset of its effect, the intensity of immediate pain relief after analgesic administration. And above all - if the pain is not chronified, then the patient will gladly and soon forget about it.
Nevertheless, intense postoperative pain is one of the factors that significantly worsens the quality of the postoperative course and can have serious adverse consequences.