Safety and satisfaction provided by patient-controlled analgesia.

Patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) therapy has become an accepted intervention for delivering pain management in a wide variety of patient populations. The principle of patient-controlled analgesia is to provide patient control over medication delivery. Unfortunately, PCA has come under great scrutiny since its introduction almost 40 years ago. This article focuses on the benefits and safety concerns of PCA and focuses on points that prescribers and nurses should keep in mind.