Postoperative pain management in the surgical wards of a tertiary care hospital in Peshawar.

Objective: To assess levels of postoperative pain with reference to internationally validated protocols.

Methods: The hospital-based survey of postoperative patients was conducted from February 2012 to April 2012 in the surgical wards of Rehman Medical Institute, Peshawar. A questionnaire was devised incorporating internationally validated World Health Organisation pain scoring system to assess the level of pain control. The severity of postoperative pain was further evaluated by correlating it with various variables.

Results: Of the 210 patients interviewed, 80(38%) were males with a mean age of 44.16±20.37 and 130(62%) were females with a mean age of 36.47±14.39. Overall, 84(40%) patients experienced mild pain, 82(39%) experienced moderate pain and 33(16%) experienced severe pain, while only 11(5%) experienced no pain when assessed within the first 24 hours following surgery. The same patients when interviewed within the 48 hours following surgery showed 117(56%) were in mild pain, 72(34%) in moderate to severe pain and 21(10%) had no pain.

Conclusions: The achievement of absolute no pain for all patients in the post-operative phase is next to impossible, but it should remain the ultimate target.