Pain Management in Day-Case Surgery
Highlights
- As oral paracetamol is 80–90% absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract, it is nearly as effective as the i.v. formulation (View Highlight)
- Oral paracetamol displays peak plasma concentration within 30–60 min (View Highlight)
- i.v. paracetamol instantaneously with onset of pain relief after 5–10 min (View Highlight)
- studies indicate synergistic effects on opioid reduction when paracetamol and NSAIDs are prescribed together. (View Highlight)
- Whereas dexamethasone is mostly recognized as an antiemetic, a larger dose of more than 0.1 mg kg−1 has been reported to display intrinsic analgesic effects without an associated risk for postoperative wound infections. (View Highlight)
- An off-label use of dexamethasone has shown that its addition to local anaesthetic prolongs the duration of brachial plexus blocks, theoretically by inhibiting potassium channel-mediated discharge of nociceptive C-fibres (View Highlight)