Clinical Approaches to Pain Relief: Diagnosis and Intervention from a Hospital Surgical Center Perspective

Abstract

Objectives: Pain is an unpleasant somatic experience that negatively affects patients' daily lives. Both surgical and non-surgical methods have been applied for pain management, and the evidence underscores the importance of characterizing pain relief concerning the procedures employed to establish future consensus on therapeutic approaches. Assessing pain relief enables the estimation of the effectiveness of services, interventions, and healthcare organization. Therefore, this study evaluated the level and profile of pain relief in a hospital surgical center. Methodology: A longitudinal study was conducted in the surgical center of a hospital (Oncovida Cancer Center) located in a large-population municipality in Brazil. Pain was assessed using a visual analogue scale before and immediately after surgical procedures. Patients' medical records were analyzed to extract additional information. All patients who underwent pain relief procedures in the hospital's surgical center and completed the pain scale before and after the procedure were included. Descriptive and bivariate analysis were conducted adopting a significance level of 5%. Results: 100 patients were included. Patients had an average pain level of 6.13 (± 3.42) before their procedures. After the procedures, the average pain dropped to 0.39 (± 3.42), equivalent to an average reduction of 5.74 (± 3.35) on the scale. A higher level of pain reduction (five points or more) was observed in patients diagnosed with chronic pain and among those undergoing denervation. Greater pain relief on the scale (five or more points) was related to the diagnosis (p = 0.001) and intervention (p < 0.001). Conclusions: Our findings show that patients experienced reduced postoperative pain levels when treated in a hospital surgical center. Patients suffering from chronic pain and who underwent denervation for pain management experienced significantly greater relief.