Patient compliance with postoperative analgesia after day case surgery: a multisite observational study of patients in North East London.

Background: Pain is the commonest reason for delayed discharge and readmission post day surgery with up to 45% of patients reported to suffer moderate-to-severe post-surgical pain 24 hours after discharge. The importance of post-surgical pain management extends beyond the acute phase when one considers that all chronic post-surgical pain was once acute. Although much focus is given to perioperative analgesia, a patient's pain management once discharged can be overlooked, whilst at this time the patient's pain management is within their own hands.