Review: patient controlled opioid analgesia reduces postoperative pain more than conventional as-needed opioid analgesia
Q Is patient controlled intravenous (IV) opioid analgesia (PCA) as effective as usual regimens of as-needed opioid analgesia for postoperative pain?
METHODS
Data sources:
Medline (1966 to November 2004), EMBASE/Excerpta Medica (1994 to February 2004), Cochrane Central Register of Controlled trials (Cochrane Library, Issue 3, 2004), and reference lists of retrieved studies.
Study selection and assessment:
randomised controlled trials (RCTs) that compared the efficacy of PCA (intermittent IV doses of morphine or other mu opioid agonists self administered by patients using PCA pumps) with conventionally administered opioids (intramuscular, IV, subcutaneous, or oral) for postoperative pain. Exclusion criteria included an initial period of analgesia other than postoperative PCA, chronic opioid therapy, chronic pain, co-administration of non-steroidal …
