A comparison of pain control in post-surgical patients receiving analgesics via an Abbott Lifecare PCA infuser system with those having traditional intramuscular injections

This Investigation compared postoperative pain management using two different treatment modalities, traditional intramuscular injections and patient controlled analgesia infusers. Data were collected on a total of 58 subjects who were admitted to either an orthopedic or a general surgical unit at Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center, Knoxville, Tennessee, and who needed relief of pain postoperatively. The sample was divided into two groups, 31 whose pain management regimen was the patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) infuser, and 27 whose pain control was by intramuscular (IM) injection of narcotic. Analyses of variance were applied to the data to inspect the differences between the PCA and IM groups with respect to dosage and length of stay. Patients' perceptions of pain intensity was rated in each group and a simple comparison of responses made. Preference for a regimen of treatment was evaluated by asking those presently on PCA who had previously had surgery which was controlled by traditional intramuscular injections to compare the two treatment modalities.

The results showed no significant difference between the tv/o groups in amount of medication taken or length of hospital stay. A clear preference for PCA was made by patients who had experienced surgery previously and had been treated for pain with traditional IM injections. Pain intensity was consistently rated lower in patients using PCA versus those receiving analgesia via injections. Also concluded was that PCA offers an alternative regimen of pain control which is safe and more closely matches the dosage of analgesic with level of pain.