Bakgrund/syfte: Smärtlindring via PCA-pump är en effektiv och säker metod vid postoperativ vård. Den syftar till att ge patienten större möjlighet att påverka sin smärtlindring. Tidigare studier påvisar att många patienter upplever sin kunskap om PCA- pumpen som otillräcklig. Denna studie syftar till att undersöka vilken grad av självskattad kunskap patienter upplever sig ha om PCA-pumpen vid smärtlindring med hjälp av PCA vid postoperativ vård. Dessutom undersöks om utförlig information, både muntlig och skriftlig, leder till ökad kunskap beträffande PCA-pumpen samt om patientinformation om PCA- pumpen minskar patientens självskattade smärta vid smärtlindring med hjälp av PCA-pump postoperativt. Metod: En deskriptiv konsekutiv enkätinsamling genomfördes på fem kirurgavdelningar vid ett sjukhus i mellersta delen av Sverige. 26 patienter deltog i studien. Resultat: Denna studie påvisade ett positivt samband mellan patientinformation och smärtlindring (r = 0,74, p = 0,0005). Det framkom även ett positivt samband mellan att få utförlig information om PCA-pumpen, muntlig och skriftlig, och ökad kunskap om PCA- pumpen hos patienten (r = 0,61, p = 0,0009). Självskattad kunskap om PCA pumpen och dess funktioner var i genomsnitt 6,3/10. Studien påvisade även att kombinerad smärtlindring med PCA-pump och EDA postoperativt leder i genomsnitt till ett VAS-värde som var 1,57 lägre efter administrering, i jämförelse med de som endast hade smärtlindring via PCA-pump, resultatet var dock inte signifikant (p = 0,1). Slutsats: Patientinformation kan spela en stor roll kring smärtlindringen hos patienter med PCA-pump. Utveckling av kvalitetsdokument för hur patientinformationen skall utföras kliniskt kan leda till en ökad smärtlindring hos patienter som vårdas postoperativt med PCA- pump. Mera forskning och större undersökningsgrupper behövs för att styrka generaliserbarheten och validiteten. / Background: Pain relief through PCA pump is an effective and safe method for the treatment of postoperative pain. It aims to provide the patient with greater ability to influence their pain. Previous studies shows that many patients experience their knowledge of the PCA pump as inadequate. This study aims to examine the degree of self-assessed knowledge patients feel that they have on the PCA pump during pain treatment through PCA in postoperative care. The study also aims to examine if detailed information, both verbal and written, will lead to increased knowledge regarding the PCA pump and whether extended information about PCA pumps reduces the patients self-rated pain during pain relief through PCA pump postoperatively. Method: A descriptive consecutive survey data collection was conducted on five surgical wards in the middle part of Sweden. 26 patients participated in this survey. Results: This study showed a positive correlation between patients and pain relief (r = 0,74, p = 0,0005). It was also a positive correlation between getting detailed information, both verbal and written, and increased knowledge for the patient (r = 0,61, p = 0,0009). Self-perceived knowledge of the PCA pump and its functions were an average of 6.3/10. The study also showed that combined pain treatment using the PCA-pump and EDA postoperatively leads to an avarage VAS-value that was 1,57 lower after administration, in comparison with those who only had pain treatment through the PCA-pump, the result was not significant (p = 0,1). Conclusion: Patient information can play a big role on pain relief in patients with PCA pump. Development of quality document for how patient information is to be performed clinically may lead to increased pain relief in patients treated postoperatively with PCA pump. More research and larger study groups are needed to demonstrate the generalizability and validity.

Master of Science / Electrical and Computer Engineering / Steven Warren / Medical device interoperability and re-configurability continue to be important areas of research toward the realization of verifiable medical systems that can be rapidly assembled to meet the needs of specific patients. This thesis addresses the modularized design of a patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) pump to be used within the context of the Medical Device Coordination Framework (MDCF), an open source framework under development by Kansas State University and the University of Pennsylvania that is informed by the Integrated Clinical Environment (ICE) specification managed by the MD PnP program and its collaborators. The thesis illustrates how to set up the MDCF development environment with Eclipse so that a developer can create software for both a remote MDCF console and a local PCA pump, where ICE channels are used for message transmission. Software development on the MDCF console side includes the development of apps that communicate with a local PCA pump through ICE channels and (b) the development of a GUI that can be launched from an MDCF console to configure, control, and monitor a PCA pump. Software development on the PCA pump side includes the creation of (a) ICE channels that can communicate with an MDCF console and (b) multiple threads for corresponding UART ports that support a modularized design. Several hardware modules were implemented to demonstrate the modularized design approach: an alarm module, a patient button module, a pump module, and a control panel module. These modules employ BeagleBone, Arduino, and MSP430 boards. Status information is displayed on an MDCF console GUI, a PCA pump GUI, and a local LCD screen. An enhanced PCA pump or general medical sub-system with more modules can be developed using a similar method by connecting individual modules to UART ports and then creating the corresponding threads to support device-console communication.