Pain relief

Your anaesthetist will manage your pain during the early post-operative period.

Post-operative pain

Modern medical knowledge has shown that regardless of the cause, the way pain is experienced is actually very complex. Different patients will experience different levels of pain following the same type of surgery. 

The role of the Anaesthetist 

Anaesthetists are at the forefront of pain management. They are trained to choose techniques that best suit the particular surgery and each individual patient's needs. This may involve the use of drugs from simple analgesics and other medications through to strong opioids, by oral, intravenous or other routes of administration, frequently using ‘patient controlled analgesia’ (PCA). Sometimes, local anaesthetic drugs are injected into the surgical site before the end of anaesthesia, or alternatively, given as ‘regional anaesthesia’ (see ‘Types of anaesthesia’).

Please discuss any concerns you have about the management of pain with your anaesthetist before your operation or procedure.