With referral from a surgeon, patients scheduled for surgery at UC San Diego Health may receive pre-operative pain consultations with our pain-care team. This service is designed to help patients with:
- Chronic pain
- Previous difficulty with post-operative pain
- Tolerance to prescription opioid pain medications
- Allergy or intolerance to multiple pain medications
Those who opt for this service will meet with our pain care team before admission to the hospital to develop a pain management plan for before, during and after surgery. Each plan is tailored to the individual and may include:
- Preemptive pain-killers before and during surgery
- Regional and epidural pain-relief techniques, which can be continued post-operatively
- Drugs for post-operative pain management
Though individual pain management plans may vary depending on each person’s unique situation, all plans are designed to:
- Facilitate patients’ recovery and comfort
- Help surgeons control post-operative pain
- Coordinate pre- and post-operative pain care with inpatient pain care specialists
- Reduce pain medications’ side effects
- Reduce the chances of developing chronic pain