A continuous quality assurance survey to assess the performance of acute pain service in a tertiary care hospital

The objective of the survey was to assess the quality of service provided to the postoperative patients by acute pain service (APS) and look at areas where improvement is required. All postoperative patients managed by APS were asked to fill out a survey form. Questions included preoperative information, overall pain control, side effects and patient satisfaction with APS. In addition patient's demographics, general characteristics, type of drug and modality were also documented. 1050 patients participated in the survey. Most of the patients (46%) received intravenous infusion and epidural infusion (37%) while 17% received patient controlled intravenous analgesia. 70% patients were informed about pain control and it was mainly anesthetist (86%), who provided this information. Overall pain control was excellent in 85% and satisfactory in 15% of patients. Systemic side effects reported by 37% patients. Most common side effect was nausea and vomiting (19%) while 9% developed motor block. A dedicated APS definitely has an impact on the quality of service provided to the patients and the use of different analgesic modalities under the supervision of APS team is associated with higher patient satisfaction, better pain control and less side effects.