Page 98 Acute Pain Management

Key messages
1. Preoperative education improves patient or carer knowledge of pain and encourages a
more positive attitude towards pain relief (U) (Level II).
2. Video education of patients with a whiplash injury reduces the incidence of persistent pain
(N) (Level II).
3. Written information given to patients prior to seeing an anaesthetist is better than verbal
information given at the time of the interview (N) (Level III‐2).
4. While evidence for the benefit of patient education in terms of better pain relief is
inconsistent, structured preoperative education may be better than routine information,
and information presented in video format may be better still (N) (Level III‐2).
5. Implementation of an acute pain service may improve pain relief and reduce the incidence
of side effects (U) (Level III‐3).
6. Staff education and the use of guidelines improve pain assessment, pain relief and
prescribing practices (U) (Level III‐3).
CHAPTER 3 The following tick boxes  represent conclusions based on clinical experience and expert
7. Even ‘simple’ techniques of pain relief can be more effective if attention is given to
education, documentation, patient assessment and provision of appropriate guidelines
and policies (U) (Level III‐3).

opinion.
 Successful management of acute pain requires close liaison with all personnel involved in
the care of the patient (U).
 More effective acute pain management will result from appropriate education and
organisational structures for the delivery of pain relief rather than the analgesic techniques
themselves (U).

REFERENCES
ANZCA & FPM (2003) Guidelines for the management of major regional analgesia.
http://www.anzca.edu.au/resources/professional‐documents/professional‐standards/ps3.html
Australasian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists and Faculty of Pain Medicine. Accessed
January 2009.
ANZCA & FPM (2007) Guidelines on acute pain management.
http://www.anzca.edu.au/resources/professional‐documents/professional‐standards/ps41.html
Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists, Faculty of Pain Medicine. Accessed January 2009.
ANZCA & FPM (2008) Statement on patients' rights to pain management and associated responsibilities.
http://www.anzca.edu.au/resources/professional‐documents/professional‐standards/ps45.html
Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists and Faculty of Pain Medicine. Accessed
January 2009.
Arbour R (2003) A continuous quality improvement approach to improving clinical practice in the areas of
sedation, analgesia, and neuromuscular blockade. J Contin Educ Nurs 34(2): 64–71.
Arnold J, Goodacre S, Bath P et al (2009) Information sheets for patients with acute chest pain:
randomised controlled trial. BMJ 338: b541.
ASA (2004) Practice guidelines for acute pain management in the perioperative setting: an updated
report by the American Society of Anesthesiologists Task Force on Acute Pain Management.
Anesthesiology 100(6): 1573–81.

50 Acute Pain Management: Scientific Evidence