Multimodal Analgesia And A Multidisciplinary Approach
Multimodal analgesia, where patients are given different types of analgesics to manage pain effectively is certainly a very useful tool when it comes to pain management, especially in post operative situations.
Using more than one type of analgesic, or painkiller, can often decrease the potential risk of side effects and ensure that pain is targeted from different angles.
The use of different medications together, in the correct dosage and with the right combination can effectively make the two different medications act more efficiently, which is of particular use, especially in post-operative situations.
Sometimes patients may be wary of multimodal analgesia because they are concerned at taking more than one type of painkiller, but since side effects are usually minimised, it is actually a very safe and effective means of controlling pain. For example, the use of opiate based medication with non opiate medication can not only minimise side effects, but there can be a synergy created that actually makes each type of medication more potent.
There is also another side to multimodal analgesia, which can involve the use of painkillers and other pain management techniques such as a nerve block to maximise pain relief. The pain relief can even be administered regionally and continuously, with an epidural administered which contains an infusion of different types of local anaesthetics. Wound catheters can also be used to alleviate pain, so there are various techniques available to ensure that patients can elicit the best possible outcomes.
However, there is another aspect to pain management which can also greatly enhance the efficacy of multimodal analgesia and that is a multidisciplinary approach.
Multidisciplinary Approach
The use of multimodal analgesia fits in well with a multidisciplinary approach, so that patients can receive effective treatment for their pain, but then be helped on the road to recovery by having an input from different healthcare professionals.
Physiotherapy
Physiotherapists can be critical to ensure that the patient is helped to recover as quickly as possible. The use of multimodal analgesia can facilitate a speedier recovery from an operation, but in order to elicit a full recovery, the body has to heal itself and without physiotherapy, this healing process will take much longer or even not be complete, since physiotherapy works on the bio-mechanical issues that have caused the pain to be felt in the first instance.
It is also important to understand the psychology of pain and the effect that this may have on people. For some people it can affect their perception of themselves and have a very negative effect on their lives. Whereas for others it leads to frustration and anger.
Pain Management Experts
Input from specialised professionals who are aware of all the different aspects of the psychology of pain can therefore assist with the self-management of pain, with ensuring that physiotherapy is carried out and can in turn speed up the recovery process.
Thus multimodal analgesia, which targets pain in a way that is very thorough and from all angles, is the perfect foundation upon which a multidisciplinary approach can operate from, thereby eliciting a positive outcome and substantially reducing pain.
