Preoperative and Postoperative Pain Experience among Patients in Surgical Wards of the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH), Rivers State Nigeria

This study assessed preoperative and postoperative pain experience among patients in surgical wards of the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH), Rivers State, Nigeria. The study is a descriptive survey conducted in University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH) a five star tertiary healthcare institution in Rivers State, Nigeria. The target population included all patients present in male and female surgical ward at the time of conducting the research which totaled 102. The entire patients were selected for the study using the purposive sampling technique. The instrument for data collection was a self structured validated scale titled “Preoperative and Postoperative Pain Experience Assessment Questionnaire (PPEAQ)” with a reliability index of 0.88. Data analysis was done using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) Software version 16. Results revealed that out of the 102 patients studied, 10(9.80%) of the patients experienced preoperative pain while 92(90.1%) did not; 3(12.7%) experienced mild postoperative pain, 45(44.12%) had moderate pain postoperatively while 44(43.13%) experienced severe postoperative pain. The study concludes that majority of patients do not experience pain before surgery while a significant proportion of patients experience moderate pain postoperatively. There is the need for Policy formulation on pain assessment necessary for preoperative and postoperative pain management should be embarked on by the various health care facilities as this would serve as guidelines for effective pain assessment and management