title: Postoperative pain management in the surgical wards of a tertiary care hospital in Peshawar.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess levels of postoperative pain with reference to internationally validated protocols.
  
  
  METHODS
  The hospital-based survey of postoperative patients was conducted from February 2012 to April 2012 in the surgical wards of Rehman Medical Institute, Peshawar. A questionnaire was devised incorporating internationally validated World Health Organisation pain scoring system to assess the level of pain control. The severity of postoperative pain was further evaluated by correlating it with various variables.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 210 patients interviewed, 80(38%) were males with a mean age of 44.16±20.37 and 130(62%) were females with a mean age of 36.47±14.39. Overall, 84(40%) patients experienced mild pain, 82(39%) experienced moderate pain and 33(16%) experienced severe pain, while only 11(5%) experienced no pain when assessed within the first 24 hours following surgery. The same patients when interviewed within the 48 hours following surgery showed 117(56%) were in mild pain, 72(34%) in moderate to severe pain and 21(10%) had no pain.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The achievement of absolute no pain for all patients in the post-operative phase is next to impossible, but it should remain the ultimate target.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dentistry, Rehman Medical Institute, Peshawar.
authors.forename: Haseebullah
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Awan
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Rehman Medical Institute, Peshawar.
authors.forename: Zubair
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Durrani
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000700:Analgesics / Q000145:classification / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002763:Cholecystectomy / Q000009:adverse effects*; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass / Q000009:adverse effects*; D003625:Data Collection; D005260:Female; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D059408:Pain Management / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000379:methods; D010149:Postoperative Pain / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy; D010154:Pakistan; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D000700:Analgesics
keywords: Postoperative pain, Acute pain, Pain management, Analgesia, Anaesthesia, General surgery, Cardiac surgery.