Journal of advanced nursing
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Patient controlled analgesia and intramuscular injections: a comparisons of patient pain experiences and postoperative outcomes.
Despite relatively widespread use of various forms of patient controlled analgesia (PCA), there remain conflicting results in the literature as to the efficacy of PCA. This study was conducted to assess the efficacy and postoperative outcomes of intravenous PCA compared to intramuscular (IM) injections in 73 patients who received major abdominal surgery. These patients were randomly selected and randomly assigned preoperatively to receiving IM or PCA modes of analgesia postoperatively. ⋯ Locus of control was not found to be a major factor in satisfaction or pain levels. Subsequent meta-analyses have also failed to yield significant differences between IM and PCA groups except in patient satisfaction. It is recommended that expansion of PCA programmes with abdominal surgery patients be considered only in cases where there is fiscal advantage or where patient satisfaction can be a driving force.