The Interface Between Acute and Chronic Pain Management

Abstract

There is widespread interest among anesthesiologists in the man agement of acute and postoperative pain (1) and many have focused atten tion on development of in-hospital services to improve care in these areas. Many acute pain services are designed primarily to address management of well defined pain of short duration. The treatment offered is primarily pharmacologic and is provided by such modalities as patient controlled analgesia, neuraxial opioids or opioid/local anesthetic mixtures, and local anesthetic blockade. Treatment objectives are typically to alleviate pain, preserve function (e.g., ambulation, effective coughing), and to prevent complications of surgery that cause morbidity and increase medical costs.