Post-operative Analgesic Use and Analysis of Related Factors

Pain is a problem that humanity has experienced since its existence and is still seeking a solution. Despite all the advances in pharmacology and technology in recent years, surgical pain remains a serious problem. This study was carried out to determine the analgesic use status and related factors according to the patients' pain levels after surgery. The study consisted of 188 patients hospitalized for surgical intervention in a private hospital operating in the province of Istanbul between 01.01.2019 and 31.12.2019 and followed up on analgesic use in the clinic for 3 days after the surgical intervention. Surgical pain averages of the patients who underwent surgery were compared according to the patient’s descriptive characteristics regarding the day of the surgery. According to this comparison, it was found that the type of surgical intervention and the character of the pain affects the incidence of pain score on the first day of surgery. It was determined that on the 1st day after surgery, gender, age, alcohol use affected the incidence of pain, and on the 2nd day, there was a significant difference between the pain averages of alcohol substance use and anesthesia type. It was determined that the rate of patient-controlled analgesia use was 42% on the day of surgery, 14.4% on the 1st day, and 7.4% on the 2nd day. It was determined that the mean pain score did not differ between patients who received and did not receive patient-controlled analgesia on the 1st and 2nd days after surgery. As a result, it was determined that the frequency of experiencing surgical pain was high despite the development in pharmacological treatments and evidence-based non-pharmacological methods. Nurses play a very important role in providing painlessness and comfort with the adequate use of analgesic drugs. It is thought that nurses and doctors must plan pain before surgery, taking into account the individual characteristics of the patients, for the adequate use of analgesics after surgery. For these plans, it is recommended to increase awareness by following up-to-date information on pain treatment.