STUDY ON SAFETY AND EFFICACY OF DIFFERENT MODALITIES IN THE POST-OPERATIVE PAIN MANAGEMENT IN A TERTIARY CARE TEACHING HOSPITAL

ABSTRACT: Background: Postoperative pain control is an important part of effective postoperative care. However, 30 – 80% of postoperative patients complain about moderate to severe post-surgical pain as a result of the surgical procedure or a pre-existing disease. Aim: To assess the safety and efficacy of different modalities of postoperative pain management in post surgical wards of a tertiary care hospital. Method: It’s a prospective study was conducted in 213 patients of either gender, aged between 18 – 65 years. Patients were followed up from surgery till discharge or till the 4^th postoperative day, the drugs given for pain relief both as single drug and combination drugs and adverse effects were monitored. The severity of pain was assessed using a numeric pain rating scale after 1 h of surgery, then followed by 2 h, 4 h, 6 h, 12 h,  24 h, 48 h and 96 h. Patient satisfaction with the analgesic therapy given was recorded at the time of discharge or after 4^th postoperative day using 5 point Likert’s Scale. The data collected were tabulated and analyzed statistically using SPSS.16 software. Results: On comparing the various modalities of pain management, the combination therapy was found to be more effective than the single drug modality, as significant reduction in pain score was seen at 6^th, 12^th, 24^th and 48^th h with a p-value < 0.05. Conclusion: All the modalities used for postoperative pain management were safe and effective. The multimodal analgesic therapy for postoperative pain was more effective than the single modal analgesic therapy.