Pain relief in the recovery room: an audit of current practice and a proposed solution

Dr Mark Simmonds; Mrs Peggy Edwards

doi:10.1108/eb020886

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British Journal of Clinical Governance

ISSN: 1466-4100
Currently published as: Clinical Governance: An International Journal
Incorporates: Clinical Performance and Quality Healthcare

Online from: 1996

Subject Area: Health Care Management/Healthcare

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Pain relief in the recovery room: an audit of current practice and a proposed solution

Document Information:
Title:	Pain relief in the recovery room: an audit of current practice and a proposed solution
Author(s):	Dr Mark Simmonds, (Specialist Registrar in Anaesthesia, Department of Anaesthesia, Princess of Wales Hospital, Coity Road, Bridgend, Mid-Glamorgan CF31 1RQ, Wales, UK), Mrs Peggy Edwards, (Sister in charge of the Recovery Unit, Department of Anaesthesia, Princess of Wales Hospital, Coity Road, Bridgend, Mid-Glamorgan CF31 1RQ, Wales, UK)
Citation:	Dr Mark Simmonds, Mrs Peggy Edwards, (1998) "Pain relief in the recovery room: an audit of current practice and a proposed solution", British Journal of Clinical Governance, Vol. 3 Iss: 3, pp.122 - 127
Article type:	General review
DOI:	10.1108/eb020886 (Permanent URL)
Publisher:	MCB UP Ltd
Abstract:	For this study 334 patients during their stay in the recovery room were assigned to the following groups: ‘comfortable’, in ‘pain’ and in ‘severe pain’. Fourteen per cent of patients awoke from anaesthesia in ‘pain’ and 10% were discharged to the ward in ‘pain’. Thirty-seven per cent of patients using patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) in the recovery room were discharged in ‘pain’; 63% of these patients had neither been prescribed nor given a ‘loading dose’ in the recovery room. Forty-eight per cent of patients receiving sole intramuscular opioid analgesia were discharged in ‘pain’. Ninety per cent who received nurse-administered ‘prn’ intravenous bolus opioids were discharged ‘comfortable’. An algorithm was therefore developed for the administration of loading doses of intravenous opioids in the recovery unit to be used by recovery nursing staff prior to PCA or other analgesic methods. An early re-audit established that the algorithm became widely adopted by anaesthetists, was safe and produced comparable discharge pain scores.

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