ACUTE POSTOPERATIVE PAIN MANAGEMENT BY A SURGICAL TEAM IN A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL: PATIENTS SATISFACTION

Objective: To assess the acute postoperative pain management by a surgical team and patient satisfaction in a tertiary care teaching hospital. Patients and Methods: 105 patients, ASA I II, both sexes, mean age of 35.1 ± 14.6 years, scheduled for general surgery under routine practice conditions, were included in the study. All patients were assessed 12 and 24 hours postoperatively by two numerical visual analogue scale (VAS 0-10), related to rest and dynamic pain. Patients were also requested to indicate their satisfaction level with the help of VAS. Data was analyzed by SPSS version 10. Student t test was applied to find significant differences between the groups. Results: At 12 hours postoperatively mean rest and dynamic pain scores were 3.85 ± 2.45 and 5.32 ± 2.61 respectively. At 24 hours postoperatively mean rest and dynamic pain scores were 2.84 ± 1.86 and 4.65 ± 2.47 respectively. Overall, female patients experienced more pain but there was no statistically significant difference apart from rest pain at 24 hours. Forty-seven (44.8%) patients were very satisfied, 42 (40%) moderately satisfied and 16 (15.2%) patients were mildly satisfied with the pain management. Conclusion: Overall management of acute postoperative pain by surgical team in a tertiary care hospital was satisfactory. Most of patients were moderately to very satisfied by the care provided.