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Query: UMLS:C0030201 (Postoperative pain)
 1,085 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

This article is a report of our experience with an interdisciplinary pain service in a large tertiary care pediatric hospital. During the first 2 years of operation, we received 869 consultations and referrals from more than 19 hospital divisions. Postoperative pain was the most frequent reason for consultation (56% of patients). Patients with pain related to cancer and sickle cell disease comprised 25% of the consultations. The remaining patients had a wide variety of primary diagnoses and causes of pain. We calculated the time spent by pain service physicians in direct patient care. The majority (63%) of physician time was spent with a small number of patients (17%). Most of these patients had pain that was unrelated to surgery, cancer, or sickle cell disease, and many posed dilemmas in diagnosis and treatment. Physician time was correlated directly to the use of psychologic and physical therapies for the pain, involving multiple team members. This experience supports the demand for an interdisciplinary pain service in a tertiary care children's hospital. A significant amount of physician time is necessary to provide patient care and to maintain a team approach, however, and pediatricians and other health care professionals who aim to implement such services should be cognizant of the time required.
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PMID:Experience of an interdisciplinary pediatric pain service. 195 41

Sickle cell diseases comprise a group of inherited disorders that alter hemoglobin, ultimately causing hemolytic anemia and reoccurring instances of vascular occlusion that produce acute and chronic pain. Many patients with sickle cell disease require surgery for conditions associated with their disease. Painful vaso-occlusive episodes, which can be debilitating and require long hospital stays, are often precipitated by the stress of surgery. Poorly controlled postoperative pain also can worsen an impending painful crisis. Traditional therapy for patients with sickle cell disease undergoing surgery has included preoperative transfusion and postoperative opioid therapy. Recent studies have demonstrated that aggressive preoperative transfusion therapy is not beneficial over a more conservative approach. Postoperative pain control trends include nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ketorolac and opioid agonist-antagonist agents such as nalbuphine, as well as epidural analgesia to minimize respiratory depression. New preventive therapy for vaso-occlusive crisis includes hydroxyurea, a chemotherapeutic agent that stimulates the production of fetal hemoglobin. Inhaled nitric oxide is being used in clinical trials with success in slowing the sickling process and unsickling cells. Phase III clinical trials are in progress for 2 drugs that decrease sickling: poloxamer 188 and fructose 1-6 diphosphate. These new therapies should help improve the anesthetic course of the patient with sickle cell disease, reduce postoperative complications, and shorten hospital stays.
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PMID:New advances in the treatment of sickle cell disease: focus on perioperative significance. 1175 66