I’m really stretching the boundaries of the purpose of the blog with this one, so my apologies to those uninterested….
One of the professional organizations I belong to (the International Association for the Study of Pain) has been choosing a theme for each of the past several years. In conjunction with that theme, they release a whole bunch of free materials which often turn out to be useful and generally accessible to non-specialists. This year, the topic is post-surgical pain. I thought some of you might be interested in the current best practices and open issues. Here’s the main website: http://www.iasp-pain.org/globalyear
You can find materials from past year’s themes at the above site. Here are the fact sheets for this year:
Fact Sheets on Pain After Surgery
Below are 14 Fact Sheets prepared by the world’s top experts on various aspects of postsurgical pain. IASP thanks the scientists and clinicians who wrote and reviewed the Fact Sheets and members of the SIG on Acute Pain for their valuable contributions. The documents, edited by task force chairs Daniel B. Carr and Bart Morlion, are free to download.
- What the Public Should Know About Pain After Surgery
- What Health-Care Professionals Should Know About Pain After Surgery
- Pathophysiology of Acute Postoperative Pain
- Chronic Postsurgical Pain: Definition and Impact
- Management of Postsurgical Pain in Adults: Pharmacotherapy and Regional Anesthesia
- Behavioral Techniques including Hypnosis for Pain After Surgery
- Management of Postsurgical Pain in Children
- Management of Postsurgical Pain in Older Adults
- Management of Postsurgical Pain in Patients Treated Preoperatively with Opioids
- Management of Pain Related to Surgery and Procedures in Patients with Known or Suspected Cancer
- Pain Management in Critical Care
- Acupuncture for Acute Pain and Nausea After Surgery
- Management of Patients First Presenting with Chronic Pain After Surgery
- Using Outcomes to Improve Care: Real-Time, Short-Term, and Long-Term