Pain Management in Post-Operative Joint Replacement Patient

Patient Population or Disease

After surgical joint replacement patients need pain management and analgesia because there is an increased amount of pain and stimuli that are usually not painful suddenly become bothersome (Scholz & Yaksh, 2010). For rehabilitation of the joint to occur, the patient must undergo physiotherapy. This therapy includes strengthening the joint and its surrounding muscles. If an intolerable amount of pain is present, the time for recovery could be prolonged and even chronic complications may result. The natural progression is that the amount and intensity of the pain perceived varies from patient to patient but as the incisions heal the pain intensity gradually declines (Scholz & Yaksh, 2010). “However, some patients experience deep pain or pain referred to the dermatomes that correspond to the operated organ, which persists for months or even years” (Scholz & Yaksh, 2010 p. 512). In the literature a clear distinction is not made in the description of post-operative pain. For instance post-operative pain could occur as a result of aggravation of the affected area by exercise, friction, or some other manipulation that occurs in the post-operative and recovery period (Scholz & Yaksh, 2010). Scholz and Yaksh (2010) ask “are the mechanisms responsible for sustained pain the same as those underlying acute postsurgical pain, or does, in this subgroup of patients, the trauma associated with the surgical intervention provoke different changes in sensory processing?” (Scholz & Yaksh, 2010 p.511)” The post-operative pain that is under examination in this paper is that which is produced as result of the acute joint rehabilitation process. The goal of this project is t...

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