Postoperative pain is a major concern to patients undergoing surgical procedures but little research has been conducted on pain management after hospital discharge for orthopaedic patients. Since pain medication is a key component of pain management, it is important to study medication usage from a patient’s perspective, for greater patient–health care provider concordance. A qualitative descriptive approach was taken to investigate the experience of 14 participants with managing pain at home immediately after total knee arthroplasty. Most participants limited their consumption and weaned themselves off prescription analgesics and used over-the-counter pain medications. The participants adapted their regimens in response to several factors and generally were content to self-manage their pain but required access to professional support. The study suggests that when developing postoperative pain management plans, health care providers may need to increase the time they spend addressing patients’ concerns and considering patients’ preferences.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TORONTO/oai:tspace.library.utoronto.ca:1807/30518 |
| Date | 05 December 2011 |
| Creators | Bremner, Samantha |
| Contributors | McCartney, Colin, Webster, Fiona |
| Source Sets | University of Toronto |
| Language | en_ca |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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