Application possibilities of digital tools in postoperative pain therapy

Abstract

Recently, digital tools, such as smartphone-based applications and the use of artificial intelligence have increasingly found their way into pain medicine. This could enable new treatment approaches in postoperative pain management. Therefore, this article provides an overview of various digital tools and their potential application options in postoperative pain management. An orienting literature search was carried out in the MEDLINE and Web of Science databases, and atargeted selection of essential key publications was made in order to provide astructured presentation of different current possible applications and a discussion based on the most recent knowledge. Today, possible applications of digital tools, even if they mostly have only a model character, include pain documentation and assessment, patient self-management and education, pain prediction, decision support for medical staff, and supportive pain therapy, for example in the form of virtual reality and videos. These tools offer advantages such as individualized treatment concepts, addressing specific patient groups, reduction of pain and analgesics, and the potential for early warning or detection of postoperative pain. Furthermore, the challenges of the technical implementation and appropriate user training are highlighted. The use of digital tools, although so far integrated in clinical routine in arelatively selective and exemplary manner, promises to be an innovative approach for personalized postoperative pain therapy in the future. Future studies and projects should help to integrate the promising research approaches into everyday clinical practice.