title: Pain Management Following Thoracic Surgery.
abstract: Postoperative pain following thoracic surgery presents a significant challenge, and multiple factors complicate recovery and pain management for this population. Considerable comorbidities often exist in thoracic surgical patients, further limiting therapeutic options. Elements of nociceptive and neuropathic pain may contribute greatly to patient discomfort. There is no single pharmaceutical agent or route of administration that addresses every individual contributor to pain, and thus treatment regimens should be multimodal and tailored to the patient and procedure. This article outlines systemic agents, regional techniques and attendant complications, etiologies of pain following thoracic procedures, and the development and treatment of chronic pain.
authors.affiliation: Division of Thoracic & Cardiovascular Surgery, Department of Anesthesia, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22908, USA.
authors.forename: Brett
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Elmore
authors.affiliation: Division of Thoracic & Cardiovascular Surgery, Department of Anesthesia, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22908, USA.
authors.forename: Van
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.affiliation: Division of Thoracic & Cardiovascular Surgery, Department of Anesthesia, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22908, USA.
authors.forename: Randall
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Blank
authors.affiliation: Division of Thoracic & Cardiovascular Surgery, Department of Anesthesia, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22908, USA.
authors.forename: Kenan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yount
authors.affiliation: Division of Thoracic & Cardiovascular Surgery, Department of Anesthesia, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22908, USA. Electronic address: cll2y@virginia.edu.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lau
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D059408:Pain Management / Q000379:methods*; D010149:Postoperative Pain / Q000628:therapy*; D019616:Thoracic Surgical Procedures / Q000009:adverse effects*
keywords: Chronic pain; Pain management; Postoperative pain; Thoracic surgery