title: Intravenous patient-controlled analgesia: one size does not fit all.
abstract: Patient-controlled analgesia was introduced as a technique that would allow greater flexibility in opioid delivery for the management of acute pain. However, so far, any benefit compared with conventional methods of pain relief appears to be small. This article reviews some of the factors that could limit the usefulness of intravenous patient-controlled analgesia in the clinical setting and what strategies might allow patient-controlled analgesia to become more effective.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesia, Acute Pain Service, Hyperbaric and Pain Medicine, Royal Adelaide Hospital and University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, 5000 Australia. pamela.macintyre@adelaide.edu.au
authors.forename: Pamela E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Macintyre
mesh_terms: D016058:Analgesia, Patient-Controlled; D000701:Analgesics, Opioid / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D007275:Injections, Intravenous; D010149:Postoperative Pain / Q000188:drug therapy*
chemical_list: D000701:Analgesics, Opioid