This is a review of the literature on pain relief following abdominal surgery. There is some confusion over the focus of the review: despite the title, most of the discussion is about pain in the postpartum period, including pain following caesarean section and episiotomy; however, few of the reviewed papers in fact deal with postpartum pain. The review’s analgesic focus on the use of codeine-acetaminophen and non-steroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) adds to the growing body of literature comparing these two forms of pain relief.

The authors constructed search algorithms using terms appropriate for postpartum pain and for pain following general surgery; however, this is not necessarily commensurate with the full and short …