Cross-sectional survey on postoperative pain of inpatients in hospitals in Chongqing，China

Abstract:

Objective：To survey the characteristics and treatments of postoperative pain in Chongqing hospitals of China. Methods：A questionnaire survey was conducted in all inpatients aged over 9 and undergone surgery between 0：00 on March 18th and 24：00 on March 20th，2015 in 18 hospitals in Chongqing city. All patients were interviewed within postoperative 48 hours. The presence and intensity of postoperative pain at the time of the survey，as well as the intensity of the most severe pain that patient had ever experienced after surgery were assessed. Pain was measured by numerical rating scale（NRS）. Moreover，information about treatment of postoperative pain was also recorded. And relevant medical-surgical data were retrieved from the patients’ hospital records. Results：A total of 1 147 patients were investigated，and the investigation rate was 98.12%. The overall prevalence of postoperative was 96.6%. At the specific time of the survey，210（18.3%） patients reported moderate to severe pain at rest，and 572（49.9%） patients reported moderate to severe pain on movement. Meanwhile，482（42.0%） patients complained they had experienced moderate to severe pain at rest after surgery，and 966（84.2%） patients had ever suffered moderate to severe pain on movement following surgery. In tertiary non-teaching hospitals，tertiary non-teaching hospitals and secondary hospitals，incidence of moderate to severe pain at rest in patients of were 30.7%，42.5%，and 54.7%，respectively（P<0.01），and moderate to severe pain on movement were 78.5%，80.7%，93.4%，respectively（P<0.01）. There were 892（77.8%） patients received analgesics to treat postoperative pain. More patients（81.6%） in tertiary teaching hospitals received analgesics than patients in tertiary non-teaching hospitals（74.4%）. A combination of opioids and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs was the most commonly used analgesic regimen after surgery in tertiary teaching hospitals，whereas other grades hospitals preferred to use opioids alone to control postoperative pain. In hospitals of Chongqing，patient controlled analgesia was the most popular analgesic technique，and analgesics were most commonly administered by intravenous injection. Conclusion：The incidence of postoperative pain of inpatients is rather high in hospitals of Chongqing. Moderate to severe pain occurs relatively less frequently in tertiary teaching hospitals than in tertiary non-teaching hospitals and secondary hospitals. Analgesics combination is commonly used in tertiary teaching hospitals，while single opioid administration is popular in tertiary non-teaching hospitals and secondary hospitals.