Multimodal Analgesia for Postsurgical Acute Pain Management: The Role of the Bedside Practitioner

By Maureen F. Cooney, DNP, FNP-BC, Pain Management Nurse Practitioner, Westchester Medical Center, Valhalla, N.Y.

For patients preparing for surgery, their biggest worry often has nothing to do with typically noted complications. What patients fear most is pain.¹ And for good reason: More than 80% of surgical patients report acute postoperative pain,² yet less than half report adequate pain relief.³

Postsurgical acute pain management is more than a matter of providing comfort. Failure to