Patient controlled analgesia versus conventional analgesia for postoperative pain

Abstract

Materials and Methods: In a clinical trial the PCA group received self-administered intermittent intravenous morphine via PCA and the conventional group received intravenous Pethidine every 6 hours per day. The patients were assessed on an hourly basis for the first 4 hours after surgery, every 2 hours for the next 8 hours and every 4 hours for next 12 hours. Two methods were used in order to evaluate the degree of pain relief in patients: (1) facial pain scale; pain assessment based on the patient’s appearance and (2) numerical rating scale; based on patient ratings of their pain.