Principles of acute pain management.

Acute pain is a predominant feature of the perioperative experience for the majority of patients. This paper aims to describe the adverse effects of poorly controlled acute, postoperative pain and provides an overview of the organisational aspects involved in pain management in hospitals. Following this there will be an examination of the role information giving has in improving the patient's perioperative experience. Pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions to prevent or reduce pain will also be described and because of its importance in setting the standard for logical prescribing in pain, the Analgesic Ladder, devised by the World Health Organisation (WHO 1986) will be given special consideration. Finally, the importance of pain assessment and re-assessment will be discussed.