Treatment of postoperative pain

Abstract

A new definition of pain was published in 2020, which further emphasizes its individual character, the significant influence of emo-tional and other factors on its intensity and level of suffering, the need to pay increased attention to those who cannot describe their experience verbally, and the negative impact of pain on quality of life. Treatment of acute postoperative pain is one of the essential components of comprehensive care of surgical patients. This is documented by a number of recommendations issued by medical societies on this issue. Reference to the most important ones is given in the list of literature. The basic principles of the approach to therapy and an overview of new trends, especially in the field of locoregional methods of analgesia, are summarized in this article. Within multimodal analgesia, its individual components and the possibilities of combining drugs from different groups are mentioned. Some new modifications of already used drugs and possibilities of further development are presented. The group of adjuvant drugs, often used off-label, is also mentioned. There has been a shift of opinion about their usefulness in recent years. Finally, a recent perspective on the whole issue of improving the quality of life of patients after surgery and the place of analgesic treatment in it is described.