J Korean Clin Nurs Res.  2024 Apr;30(1):45-53. 10.22650/JKCNR.2024.30.1.45.

The Effect of a Preoperative Patient-Controlled Analgesia Education Program on Postoperative Pain Control in Older Patients with Spine Surgery

• Park HR
• Jeong EJ
• Yoo MJ
• Lee SG
• Jeong SY
• Kang B

• KMID: 2555879
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.22650/JKCNR.2024.30.1.45

Abstract

Purpose
This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of preoperative patient-controlled analgesia(PCA) education program on older patients with spine surgery.
Methods
A quasi-experimental research with a non-equivalent control group pretest-posttest design was conducted to investigate the impact of a PCA education program before surgery on postoperative pain, pain knowledge and attitudes, and frequency of additional analgesic use. The sample size for experimental and control group was 55 respectively.
Results
The experimental group, which underwent the PCA education program, had lower postoperative pain scores compared to the control group. Furthermore, the experimental group exhibited a higher level of knowledge on PCA (p<.001) and more positive attitudes toward analgesic use (p<.001). While there was a significant difference in the use of opioid analgesics for additional pain relief between two groups (p<.001), there was no significant difference in the use of non-opioid analgesics.
Conclusion
The implementation of the PCA education program was found to increase knowledge and positive attitudes on the use of PCA. Moreover, it significantly alleviated pain, particularly during physical activity, within initial 48 hours after spinal surgey in older patients. Therefore, the findings of this study supported that the PCA education program could be used as a preoperative intervention to alleviate postoperative pain for older patients with spinal surgery.

Keyword

Patient-Controlled Analgesia; Education; Spine