Anesthesiology Commons^™

Intraoperative Dexmedetomidine Administration Effects On Postoperative Pain Scores And Opioid Medication Requirements: Pain Management Expectations Among Crnas, Dorilynn Nicol, Melissa Gheen, Matthew Bodine

Graduate Publications and Other Selected Works - Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

Abstract

Opioid pain medications are currently viewed as a standard part of pain control in the vast majority of surgical procedures. However, opioid pain medications can have harmful effects on patients leading to increased length of hospital stay, unplanned readmission, and contribution to relapse or development of opioid use disorder. An opportunity for improved practice of pain management lies within opioid alternative pain medications such as dexmedetomidine. Evidence-based literature reviews have shown that dexmedetomidine has promise as an analgesic medication within the perioperative period with fewer harmful side effects. Barriers to more widespread use of this medication include staff unfamiliarity …

Continuous Epidural Analgesia For Postoperative Pain Management: A Policy Analysis, Madison Nowell

Doctoral Projects

Postoperative pain management is a necessary component of the care of every surgical patient. Epidural analgesia is a widely used method to provide excellent postoperative pain relief and enhance postoperative recovery (Sawhney, 2012). Epidural analgesia is associated with fewer side effects than alternative pain management techniques; however, when epidural catheters are managed improperly, or pain is inadequately assessed, epidural analgesia fails to provide adequate pain relief (Deni et al., 2016). More than 80% of surgical patients experience moderate to severe postoperative pain, and 28 to 50% of these patients have a pain score greater than 6 out of 10 at …