Analgesia for thoracic surgery

The pain after thoracotomy is considered to be one of the most severe experienced after surgery. A good, multimodal analgesic strategy is required to minimize patient discomfort and reduce the risk of post-operative pulmonary complications. This includes regional anaesthetic techniques as well as in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inAnaesthesia and intensive care medicine Vol. 25; no. 2; pp. 86 - 88
Main Authors Oram, Rebecca, Rasburn, Neil
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Elsevier Ltd 01.02.2024
Subjects
Analgesia
enhanced recovery
epidural
paravertebral
post-thoracotomy pain syndrome
thoracotomy
Analgesia
enhanced recovery
paravertebral
thoracotomy
epidural
post-thoracotomy pain syndrome
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Summary:The pain after thoracotomy is considered to be one of the most severe experienced after surgery. A good, multimodal analgesic strategy is required to minimize patient discomfort and reduce the risk of post-operative pulmonary complications. This includes regional anaesthetic techniques as well as intravenous and oral analgesics. Severe pain not only causes a poor patient experience and risks development of debilitating chronic pain, but also impairs deep breathing and cough leading to secretion retention, atelectasis and infection. However, overuse of opiates and the consequent hypoventilation can exacerbate these respiratory consequences. Effective analgesia (while limiting cumbersome infusion lines and pumps) is a key part of enhanced recovery in which early mobilization is paramount.
ISSN:1472-0299
1878-7584
DOI:10.1016/j.mpaic.2023.11.001