Perioperative pain management refers to the actions taken before, during and after a surgical procedure with the aim of reducing postoperative pain, improving surgical outcomes and supporting post-operative pain recovery. Traditionally, this has been an area managed by the anaesthetist. However, pain specialists are in increasingly high demand in the operative planning of patients because of our expertise in pain.
Inadequately controlled pain before and after surgery can prolong post-operative recovery periods, increase the risk of persistent post-surgical pain and other surgical complications. Having an effective perioperative pain management plan can reduce your patient’s length of hospital stay, promote their recovery and improve post-operative pain control, patient satisfaction and surgical outcomes.
A perioperative treatment plan can be beneficial for all patients undergoing surgery. In particular are those patients who have chronic pain, medical and/or psychiatric comorbidities and who have been on long term opioid treatment prior to their surgery. These patients tend to require higher levels of analgesia after their surgery and are at higher risk of developing persistent post-surgical pain and other surgical complications.
We will work directly with you and your patient, their anaesthetist and surgeon before, during and after the surgery. We aim to improve your patients’ pain before their surgery, reduce their pre-operative opioid requirements and optimise their physical and mental fitness. We will then assist in setting up an intra- and post- operative pain management plan as well as provide any pain specific anaesthetic advice. If your patient is having surgery at one of the hospitals we work from, we can visit them during their stay to ensure everything is going to plan and assist with any additional analgesia requirements on discharge.
If you are interested in setting up a perioperative pain management plan for your patient, please send us a Referral. Alternatively, you can Contact Us for further information.