Putting it all together: recommendations for improving pain management in plastic surgical procedures.

SUMMARY: The benefits of optimal pain management are well recognized. Nevertheless, treatment of postoperative pain continues to be a major challenge, and inadequate postoperative pain relief remains disturbingly high. One of the reasons for suboptimal pain management may be related to inadequate or improper application of available analgesic therapies. Use of patient-specific and procedure-specific pain management strategies should improve pain control and consequently improve perioperative outcome, including early ambulation, ability to perform rehabilitation activities, and return to activities of daily living. This article discusses the current evidence that should allow improved postoperative pain control with emphasis on the use of procedure-specific pain management.