title: Patient-controlled analgesia: an assessment by 200 patients.
abstract: Two hundred patients completed a questionnaire about their experiences of patient-controlled analgesia. The questionnaire covered the following topics: pre-operative information, reasons for pressing and not pressing the button, pain relief, side-effects, safety, advantages and disadvantages of patient-controlled analgesia, worries associated with its use and control over pain. A high level of satisfaction with the device, together with a view that it afforded control over pain, emerged from replies to simple, general questions. However, more detailed questions revealed side-effects and fears that constrained its use and hence patients' ability to control pain. Control is predominantly a feature of the professional's view of patient-controlled analgesia, rather than the patient's experience of this analgesic technique.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesia, St. George's Hospital Medical School, London, UK.
authors.forename: G M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Chumbley
authors.forename: G M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Hall
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Salmon
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016058:Analgesia, Patient-Controlled / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000523:psychology*; D001007:Anxiety; D001294:Attitude to Health; D001519:Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010149:Postoperative Pain / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires