[On demand analgesia: new concepts for treatment of acute pain].

Intravenous demand analgesia is introduced as a possible way to optimize the treatment of acute pain. Within certain limits patients are allowed to self-administer small doses of analgesics as often as they need; microprocessors are used to control safe operation and to document individual drug consumption. Literature is reviewed with respect to previous experience with patient activated analgesia, and new data are presented from a pilot study with 11 analgesic drugs administered on demand during the early postoperative period. Demand analgesia is described not only as an effective therapeutic concept but also as an interesting tool for pain research (influences on pain perception, comparison of analgesic potencies etc.). It is strongly suggested from the results that treatment of acute pain ought to be more individualized than it is now in routine practice.