About this Research Topic
Insufficient post-surgical pain control may lead to adverse physiologic effects in the immediate postoperative period. When acute pain does not resolve with the healing process after surgery, pain can become persistent.
This being said, approximately 10 % of the patients eventually develop chronic pain associated with the surgical procedure. Acute surgical pain can be categorized by the mechanisms. Direct intraoperative tissue injury such as skin incision causes nociceptive pain secondary to activation of C-fibers and A-delta and A-beta fibers whereas the release of inflammatory mediators causes inflammatory pain. Neuropathic pain is another type of pain secondary to the injury to neuronal structures. Pain can also be categorized as visceral or somatic, in which somatic pain is usually characterized as more localized, sharp quality whereas visceral is more diffused and a poorly localized pattern.
Regardless the mechanism or the type of pain, poorly controlled acute surgical pain can be associated increased morbidity, prolonged recovery time, delayed discharge from institution, extended use of opioid and impaired quality of life. Thus, optimal pain management is of uttermost importance and should commence before surgery in an attempt to understand patients’ psychological status preoperatively, facilitate hemodynamic stability intraoperatively and minimize pain intensity postoperatively.
Based on the multimodal analgesia principle, the use of systemic pharmacologic therapy such as opioid and local anesthetics for regional or neuraxial anesthetic techniques has been the mainstay of management for acute post-surgical pain. The aim of the collection is to identify early implementation of analgesics, in any way, to minimize acute surgical pain and prevent pain-related morbidity post-surgically.
In this issue, we welcome submissions on the following topics, but are not limited to:
- Clinical application of pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic methodologies in the management of acute post-surgical pain
- Clinical application of preoperative regional anesthesia for intraoperative and postoperative pain management in different surgeries
- The changes in hemodynamic stability with new advances in pain management perioperatively
- The prevention in the development of chronic pain associated with surgical procedures
Keywords: Anesthesia, Analgesia, Opioid, Regional Blocks, Nerve Blocks, Neuraxial Block, Surgery
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.