Ambulatory Multidisciplinary Management of Postoperative Pain

Book excerpt: Postoperative pain is a common problem in clinical practice that becomes chronic in approximately 10% to 30% of adults who undergo surgery, being severe in 5 to 10% of them. It is one of the main causes of chronic pain, which makes it a major public health problem. It generates in patients who suffer it a worsening of their quality of life, their psychological well-being, and disability with the consequent incapacity for work. Given that both its etiology and its consequences are complex and multifactorial, postoperative pain must be approached from a multimodal perspective: preventive, pharmacological, nutritional, rehabilitative, nursing intervention, psychological and, in those refractory cases, through surgical approaches or nerve block techniques. This book aims at first to analyze the pathophysiological and psychological bases that underlie its etiology. Next, it aims to carry out an updated review of the multidisciplinary programs for the treatment of postoperative pain that have been carried out and what their results have been. Moreover, the contribution of each of these disciplines in the ambulatory management of postoperative pain will be reviewed. Finally, we want to study the peculiarities of the management of this type of pain in the oncological patient, as well as the personal and socioeconomic consequences and the increase in other comorbidities of this important reason for consultation.