Management of post-operative pain in children and adolescents with scoliosis

  • E. Stapaki
  • I. Vlamis
Keywords: postoperative pain, analgesia, children, adolescents, scoliosis

Abstract

Post-operative pain management in children and adolescents undergoing scoliosis surgery remains a major concern. The aim of this study was to review the methods of post-operative pain management in such patients. For this reason, a review of the current literature was performed using the online PUBMED. Inclusion criteria in the review were: prospective, randomized, double-blind studies assessing methods of management of postoperative pain in children and adolescents subjected to spinal surgery due to scoliosis. Twenty-three prospective, randomized, controlled trials were finally included in the review. While intravenous patient-controlled analgesia with morphine remains the gold standard and most widely used analgesia technique for spinal fusion surgery in children and adolescents with scoliosis, other useful methods including epidural analgesia and intrathecal opioids as well as the administration of gabapentin, dexamethasone, acetaminophen and ketorolac seem to have beneficial effects. Taking into consideration the complexity of pain and the high rate of opioid-related adverse events, it is essential to establish a multimodal approach to improve postoperative analgesia.

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Author Biographies

E. Stapaki

Postgraduate training program: “Rehabilitation following Spinal Cord lesions. Spinal Pain Management”, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Faculty of Medicine, elstapaki@hotmail.com

I. Vlamis

Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, 3rd Department of Orthopaedic Surgery NKUA, KAT Hospital,

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Published
2021-12-02