Pain Management for the Thoracic Surgical Patient

Abstract

Postoperative pain starts with a surgical incision. The pain following a thoracic incision involves main different mechanisms. Uncontrolled postoperative pain increases morbidity and also causes delayed recovery time for patients who undergo thoracic surgery. Different analgesic techniques are applied due to the multiple mechanisms of post-thoracotomy pain. Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) protocols are recommended are used for post-thoracotomy pain management which involves multimodal analgesia technique. Successful postoperative recovery depends on proper pain management that also results in less morbidity and mortality.