Patients' experiences of postoperative pain and pain relief : A literature review

Background: Approximately 2,8 million surgical procedures were performed in Sweden 2016. After surgery, patients experienced different degrees of postoperative pain. Under treated postoperative pain created great suffering for patients, delayed the recovery after surgery and could increase the risk of complications. Therefore, it is of importance to explore and describe patients’ experiences regarding pain in conjunction with surgery, in order to improve postoperative pain relief from a nursing perspective. Aim: To describe how patients experience postoperative pain and pain relief. Method: A literature review was conducted in which four qualitative studies and three quantitative studies were included. The studies were subjected to assurance of quality and Friberg’s three-step analysis was used. Results: Two categories and eight subcategories emerged. The two categories were (1) The time before surgery and (2) The time after surgery. The categories illustrated how patients experienced postoperative pain and pain relief before and after surgical procedures. Conclusion: Patients had previous experiences, expectations, knowledge and beliefs about postoperative pain and pain relief that affected their experiences before surgery. After the procedure, patients' difficulty in communicating, their participation, the attitudes of healthcare professionals and the degree of attendance of the nurse were important experiences related to postoperative pain and pain relief