Anesthesia-based pain services improve the quality of postoperative pain management.
Anesthesia-based pain services are facilitating improvements in the quality of care of surgical patients by developing and directing institution-wide perioperative analgesia programs that include interdisciplinary collaborations. However, the impact of anesthesia-based pain services has not been evaluated in a systematic fashion. This prospective multisite study (n = 23 hospitals) utilized a standardized approach to evaluate the quality of pain care provided to patients who were and who were not cared for by an anesthesia-based pain service. A total of 5837 patients were evaluated using a standardized survey that consisted of a medical record review and a patient interview. The data were collected as part of the hospitals' quality improvement activities. Forty-nine percent of the patients were cared for by an anesthesia-based pain service. Patients who received pain service care reported significantly lower pain intensity scores; had lower levels of pain in the postoperative period; had a lower incidence of pruritus, sedation, and nausea; and experienced significantly less pain than expected. In addition, these patients were more likely to receive patient education about postoperative pain management; were more satisfied with their postoperative pain management; and were discharged sooner from the hospital. The findings from this study demonstrate that the care provided by anesthesia-based pain services has a significant impact on patient outcomes.
Miaskowski
C
C
Department of Physiological Nursing, University of California, San Francisco 94143-0610, USA. nursing%chris-miaskowski@ccmail.ucsf.edu
Crews
J
J
Ready
L B
LB
Paul
S M
SM
Ginsberg
B
B
D000328:Adult; D000758:Anesthesia; D000761:Anesthesia Department, Hospital; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010147:Pain Measurement; D010149:Postoperative Pain / Q000188:drug therapy*; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D013997:Time Factors