Pain After Surgery offers an in-depth, comprehensive overview of basic and clinical research in the field. It presents the current knowledge and expertise of top global researchers on changes in central nervous system function accompanying and following surgery, as a model of chronic pain development. It also translates scientific understanding into effective clinical management of acute and persistent pain after surgery, including preoperative interventions to decrease the risk of chronification of postsurgical pain.
Of interest to pain scientists and clinicians involved in perioperative care and the management of chronic pain, this title offers a timely understanding of the extensive range of available research tools and methods, as well as integrated approaches including nondrug strategies for postsurgical pain control. In addition, it covers topics vital to today’s clinical pain management: surveying translational research methodologies while understanding their limitations; employing a comprehensive “menu” of pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic therapies to minimize acute postoperative pain; optimizing this “menu” to best meet the needs of younger or older individuals; predicting which patients are most vulnerable to developing chronic postoperative pain; and defining and capturing practical data to develop evidence that supports paradigm shifts in clinical pain practice.