Managing post-thoracotomy pain: Epidural or systemic analgesia and extended care - A randomized study with an "as usual" control group.

Background and aims Thoracotomies can cause severe pain, which persists in 21-67% of patients. We investigated whether NSAID + intravenous patient-controlled analgesia (IV-PCA) with morphine is an efficacious alternative to thoracic epidural analgesia (TEA). We also wanted to find out whether an extended controlled pain management protocol within a clinical study can decrease the incidence of persistent post-thoracotomy pain.