Physical therapy
-
The purposes of this article are to introduce the reader to patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) and to summarize its use in several selected pain-related conditions. patient-controlled analgesia is a relatively new technique for managing pain in which patients are able to self-administer small doses of opioid analgesic medications when needed. The authors briefly review some of the problems associated with current and previous opioid delivery strategies and highlight the advantages of PCA over these other methods. They then discuss the components of the PCA system and briefly describe how the system is operated and controlled. ⋯ The authors close with a brief summary of several reports describing the use of PCA in the management of postoperative pain, cancer pain, and pain associated with labor and delivery. Indications and contraindications for use in these conditions are presented. Because physical therapists often play a major role in pain management, it is important for them to be well informed with regard to recent developments in this rapidly developing area of clinical practice.