Pain Management Following Thoracic Surgery

Postoperative pain following thoracic surgery presents a significant challenge, and multiple factors complicate recovery and pain management for this population. Considerable comorbidities often exist in thoracic surgical patients, further limiting therapeutic options. Elements of nociceptive and neuropathic pain may contribute greatly to patient discomfort. There is no single pharmaceutical agent or route of administration that addresses every individual contributor to pain, and thus treatment regimens should be multimodal and tailored to the patient and procedure. This article outlines systemic agents, regional techniques and attendant complications, etiologies of pain following thoracic procedures, and the development and treatment of chronic pain.