Review of Pain Management After Congenital Cardiac Surgery

Postoperative Pain Management

Congenital cardiac surgery, Postoperative pain management

One of the main problems that faces children undergoing congenital cardiac surgery is posoperative pain management. PCAs (Patient Controlled Analgesia) and NCAs (Nurse Controlled Analgesia) are the main means of pain management here at NCH. In this study, the investigators will review the difference between different PCA and NCA modalities. Also, the investigators aim to find out if there are differences between age groups in terms of type of drug used, total drug used, side effects and length of use of the PCA or NCA.

All patients that underwent congenital cardiac surgery from 2004 till 2010 and required PCA or NCA will be included. Data will be collected from the pain team database and charts review. Data will include; patient's age, weight, sex, procedure, pain scores and sedation score during the times of PCA and NCA use, side effects (respiratory depression, nausea, vomitting, pruritus, itching and other).In addition we will record the total days of PCA and NCA use. We will also look at the incidence of changes done in the PCA/NCA and drug itself. Identifying the ideal drug and dose based on the patient's age and procedure will allow us to take better care of our patients. Our patient population is peculiar in the fact that a big percentage of our patients are extubated in the Operating Room. For this reason, sedation and analgesia play an important role for our continued success in taking care of them.

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United States