The Benefits Of Multimodal Analgesia For Patients
Although multimodal analgesia may not be a term that everyone is familiar with, it means nothing more than using different types of analgesic drugs as pain management to ensure that patients experience as little pain as necessary. But the benefits of multimodal analgesia are significant in terms of the way that a holistic approach to pain management can ensure a speedy recovery and only minimal levels of pain.
Multimodal analgesia is usually used to make pain as bearable as possible, after a surgical procedure has been carried out. It may not always be used as a routine pain management technique.
The Idiosyncrasy Of Pain
Pain is idiosyncratic in the sense that two people can experience the same medical condition, they may also experience the same surgery, but they may experience very different levels of pain.
No one quite knows what causes this. The pain levels experienced by patients can fluctuate greatly and the levels of pain that different people can tolerate really does vary from patient to patient, but often without any discernible reason or cause.
Ostensibly, it would be easier to say that some people are simply more able to tolerate pain than others, yet it can be the case that people sometimes experience little pain when it is anticipated that their pain levels will be high and at other times, when they are not expected to feel pain, they will find that it is excruciating. So there is no one, definitive reason why people do have very individual responses to pain, but since they do, those administering pain management have to take into account the person involved and how they are experiencing that pain.
The Combination Of Analgesics
Through using a combination of different analgesics, the patient benefits in two main ways. The first and perhaps the most obvious is that pain is alleviated, resulting in the patient feeling better. Using a combination of drugs actually makes them act more efficiently in reducing pain and the more efficient that analgesics are, the less pain the patient feels.
But there is another great benefit to the patient. If only one type of analgesic is used, then the patient may have to take significant levels of the drug in order to feel better, but if a combination of analgesics is taken, then the patient will be able to take lower levels of any one particular type of analgesic and this means that they do not experience many of the unpleasant side effects that may result from high doses of one particular analgesic. For example, morphine, a very powerful analgesic is a drug that can control pain, but if it is used in high doses, patients may feel nauseous or very constipated.
Combining morphine with codeine provides good pain relief, but because less morphine is used, the patient does not get so nauseous or constipated.
Pre and Post Surgery Approach To Pain Management
One of the very positive aspects of multimodal analgesia is that it fits in well with a well rounded approach to pain management. This means that patients will be assessed pre surgery and then will find that post surgery the pain levels are already under control, so they do not wake up after surgery and find that their pain levels are unmanageable.
So multimodal analgesia is certainly something that can really help patients control their pain and when pain is controlled they will convalesce quicker!
