AB242. SOH26AB_0258. An exploration of patients’ pain control following thoracic surgery
General Posters III

AB242. SOH26AB_0258. An exploration of patients’ pain control following thoracic surgery

Mary Kate Kelly, Conor Sheahan, Kathryn Mulryan, David Healy, Michael Tolan

Department of Surgery, St. Vincent’s University, Dublin, Ireland

Background: Thoracic surgery results in considerable postoperative pain; effective pain management is imperative in optimising recovery and reducing post-operative complications. The objective is to assess post-operative pain management in thoracic surgical patients in relation to the Enhanced Recovery After Surgery Society and European Society of Thoracic Surgeons (ERAS-ESTS) 2019 guidelines. There was no official protocol standardising thoracic analgesia in this department.

Methods: A retrospective audit was conducted for 19 thoracic surgical patients. The data collected identified postoperative analgesia, discharge analgesia, and paravertebral block use, and pain was measured using numerical rating system at 24 hours and at discharge. Likert scale questionnaires were used to assess pain at the 2-week follow-up. Results were analysed descriptively and compared to ERAS-ESTS guidelines.

Results: Multimodal analgesia was used in 100% of cases, and paravertebral blocks were used in 84% of cases. The mean 24-hour post-operative pain score was 5.3/10. Seventy-four percent of patients were discharged on opioids, and 26% required additional analgesia within 2 weeks. Pain affected daily activities for 68% of patients post-discharge, and 42% reported respiratory-related pain symptoms. Eighty-four percent felt pain was well managed. Factors affecting increased opioid use included longer drain duration or open surgery. This aligns with contemporary audits, emphasising the ongoing challenges despite high protocol adherence.

Conclusions: This audit demonstrates relative adherence with ERAS-ESTS recommendations. There is space for improvement in early pain control, reduction of opioid use, and minimising pain-related functional limitations, particularly in patients with prolonged drains or open procedures. Following this, a multi-disciplinary pain protocol was introduced, standardising the analgesia modality for thoracic surgical patients.

Keywords: Analgesia; guidelines; opioids; pain; thoracic

Acknowledgments

None.

Footnote

Funding: None.

Conflicts of Interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Ethical Statement: The authors are accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Open Access Statement: This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which permits the non-commercial replication and distribution of the article with the strict proviso that no changes or edits are made and the original work is properly cited (including links to both the formal publication through the relevant DOI and the license). See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.

doi: 10.21037/map-26-ab242
Cite this abstract as: Kelly MK, Sheahan C, Mulryan K, Healy D, Tolan M. AB242. SOH26AB_0258. An exploration of patients’ pain control following thoracic surgery. Mesentery Peritoneum 2026;10:AB242.

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