Audit of an acute pain service in a tertiary care hospital in a developing country

The first anaesthesia based acute pain service (APS) was introduced in Pakistan at the Aga Khan University Hospital in July 2001, with the aim of patient safety and satisfaction. The American Society of Anesthesiologist task force guidelines were used for the introduction of APS. APS has managed 6810 patients during four and half years period. Common analgesic techniques used, were intravenous infusion (50 %), patient controlled intravenous analgesia (18 %) and epidural infusions (30 %). Common reported side effects were nausea and vomiting with intravenous infusion (10 %) and PCIA (10%) while motor block was noticed with epidural infusion (29%). This article aims to share experience with the initial setup of APS, difficulties faced after establishment of APS and an audit to show overall APS performance.