Ideal pain-free hospital – A step forward

Abstract

Pain is the most common and distressing symptom which a patient fears when admitted to the hospital for medical or surgical reasons. Well-managed pain relief improves the quality of life, lessens complications, shortens hospital stay, and decreases health-care expenses. Inadequate control of pain has consequences that go beyond suffering: Insomnia, mood swings, decreased gut motility, reduced mobility, increased risk of deep-vein thrombosis, and respiratory and cardiac morbidity to name a few. The harsh reality is that postoperative pain is inadequately addressed worldwide, and many patients both inpatients and outpatients go home where they cannot manage their pain effectively. This is not necessarily the result of the absence of effective pain relief measures but is the outcome of inappropriate management for postoperative pain relief. The ideal pain-free hospital (PFH) is achievable by putting together a multidisciplinary team of pain physicians, pain nurses, physiotherapists, and other medical professionals. Education of the patient through counseling and printed handouts with information about postoperative pain and the techniques to manage it reduces anxiety. The PFH team is founded on the tenets of thorough preoperative assessment, better-educated pain-relieving staff along all the updated facilities. The pain education incorporates all teaching gadgets for medical and paramedical staff. Round-the-clock super-specialist pain relief services along with the preplanning of proper pain management, upgraded minimally invasive and daycare surgeries make the patient pain-free up to the maximum extent.