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Anesthesia, Pain Management, and the PACU Anesthesia and pain management By using a multidisciplinary approach, our Anesthesia and Pain Management team wants to ensure your surgical experience at HSS is safe, comfortable, and positive. Good anesthesia and pain management techniques help our patients achieve better surgical outcomes after many orthopedic procedures, and also may reduce the rate of other postoperative complications.
Anesthesia From the moment the patient enters the operating room until the time the patient is comfortable in the recovery room, the anesthesiology specialist is with the patient for the entire time. This is done to ensure the anesthetic is working perfectly and the patient is calm, comfortable, and stable. The two most common types of anesthesia used at HSS are “regional” and “general.” Prior to administering of anesthesia, the anesthesiologist will discuss risks and benefits, and answer any questions you may have. Regional anesthesia is a technique where a portion of the patient’s body is rendered insensitive (or numb) to surgical stimuli. Although some patients prefer to be awake during the surgery, most prefer to receive a sedative and sleep for the entire procedure. You can discuss these options with your doctor prior to surgery. General anesthesia is when you are completely asleep during your procedure. With all forms of anesthesia, you will feel minimal, if any, pain during your surgical procedure. The anesthesia will take a while to wear off. In the meantime, you will stay in the recovery room or PACU where you will be cared for until you are awake and alert.
Pain management All patients have a right to pain management. As a patient at Hospital for Special Surgery, you can expect:
Your healthcare provider will regularly assess your pain using the numerical pain scale below, by asking, “What is the severity of your pain right now on a scale from 0 to 10?”
■ Information and education about pain
and pain relief measures. ■ A concerned staff, committed to
effective pain prevention and pain relief measures. ■ Health professionals who routinely
incorporate pain control as part of your overall care. ■ We will listen to your expressions of
pain and promptly act upon them. ■ State-of-the-art pain management, as
appropriate for the patient’s age. ■ Your personal, cultural, spiritual,
and/or ethnic beliefs will be incorporated into your care.
Numerical Rating Scale for Pain
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 No Pain
Worst Pain
Your answer will help determine the proper pain management to ensure adequate pain control. We will work with you to achieve your established goals for effective pain management and strive to maintain your pain at a level you can tolerate. As you are getting ready for discharge from the Hospital, remember to discuss with your healthcare provider how your pain will be managed at home.
You (the patient) should:
Post-Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU)
■ Ask your healthcare provider or nurse
After your surgery, you will require immediate and careful monitoring while you gradually recover from the anesthesia. This care will be given in one of the recovery areas, which we call the PACU (Post-Anesthesia Care Unit). As appropriate and during your stay in the PACU, you may receive physical therapy, nutrition and dietary services, as well as all other patient care services in a time appropriate manner. A Patient and Nurse Liaison will accompany your visitor to the PACU during visiting times. Visiting hours in the PACU vary by location. If you are staying overnight in the PACU, your visitor may visit you in the Recovery Area at 9:00 am the following morning. One visitor is permitted at the patient’s bedside; however, two visitors may split the 20 minutes visiting time into two separate 10 minute visits. All visitors to the Recovery Area (PACU) must be 14 years or older. A parent or guardian may remain with a pediatric patient.
what to expect. ■ Discuss pain relief options with your
healthcare provider prior to surgery. (Tell us what has worked or has not worked for you before, or about any side effects from pain medications you have experienced.) ■ Tell your healthcare provider if you
have been taking pain medication at home and, if so, how much. ■ Ask for pain relief when pain
first begins.