A review of the acute pain service in Hospital Kuala Lumpur
Neelima, G.; Chieng, D.C.; Lim, T.A.; Inbasegaran, K.
Medical Journal of Malaysia 58(2): 167-179
2003
ISSN/ISBN: 0300-5283 PMID: 14569736 Document Number: 555266
This study is a review of the Acute Pain Service (APS) in Hospital Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) for the year 1998 to 2001. The role of the APS is to improve the pain relief of patients through better management, quality control and choice of analgesia in terms of drugs and methods of administration. 5042 records from postoperative patients were analysed. The majority of patients (81.8%) had satisfactory pain control. 82% of patients experienced only mild pain at rest on the first postoperative day. The highest pain score occurred on the first day in 68.3% of patients. Nausea or vomiting occurred in 23.2% of the patients. Eight patients had respiratory depression. The low pain scores recorded by most patients and low incidence of side effects reflect the efficiency of the service provided.