Department of Anaesthesiology and Critical Care

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Browsing Department of Anaesthesiology and Critical Care by browse.metadata.advisor "Murray, A. A."

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    Reassessment of acute postoperative pain in a resource limited burns unit after the implementation of an analgesic management plan
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2017-12) Greyling, Adriaan Johann; Senekal, A. C.; Murray, A. A.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. Dept. of Anaesthesiology and Critical Care.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Background Tygerberg Academic Hospital is the referral centre for all major burn wounds in adult patients in the Western Cape. Patients who underwent surgery for burns related injuries at Tygerberg Academic Hospital were identified as having a high incidence of moderate to severe postoperative pain in an audit done in 2012 when there was no fixed protocol for postoperative analgesia.1 In an attempt to reduce the incidence of moderate to severe postoperative pain, the Department of Anaesthesiology and Critical Care at Tygerberg Academic Hospital introduced a new postoperative analgesia protocol in the burns unit in November 2016. This is, according to our knowledge, the first unit in Tygerberg Academic Hospital where pain scores were introduced as part of routine vitals. Methods A five month interval after the introduction of the new protocol was allowed before an audit of patients’ pain experience was commenced. A sample of 64 patients that underwent burns related surgery was evaluated. Patients were asked to indicate on a printed visual analogue scale (VAS) the worst pain experienced in the first 24 hours postoperatively, as well as the amount of pain experienced at the time of the interview at 24 hours postoperatively. These values were compared to the data collected during the audit of 2012 to establish whether any improvement had been made. We considered a reduction in median VAS score of at least 18mm to be significant. Results In this study we could not prove a statistically significant difference between the control group of Murray and Retief from 2012 and the post-intervention group of 2017 in terms of pain outcome.