Evidence-based preoperative pain medication shortens hospital
stay
Orthopaedic patients at a Danish university clinic can be released from the hospital after an operation
on average one day earlier than previously because they receive new, evidence-based multimodal
preoperative pain medication. At the Congress of the European Pain Federation EFIC in Vienna, the
anaesthesiologist Dr Jytte Møller explained that this approach brings about a reduction in costs while
also improving treatment.
Vienna, 4 September 2015 – Improving treatment while shortening the hospital stay and reducing
costs would seem to be like squaring a circle. However, the orthopaedic department of the Aarhus
University Hospital (Aarhus, Denmark) has done just that by consistently gearing their preoperative
pain medication to new evidence-based findings. The Danish anaesthesiologist Dr Jytte Møller
presented the accompanying study on the conversion process at the 9th Congress of the European
Pain Federation EFIC “Pain in Europe IX” in Vienna. More than 4000 experts from around the globe
are gathered there to discuss the latest advances in pain research and therapy. Dr Møller: “With the
help of the new multimodal pain medication, the average duration of hospital stays for patients has
been shortened by about 27 per cent, from 3.18 days to 2.32 days.”
For the study, the Aarhus University Hospital evaluated and compared the duration of patients’
hospital stays in the orthopaedic ward 28 months before and after the introduction of the new
preoperative medication. During this entire period, 5,717 adults were treated. Of that total, 2,732 were
treated prior to the introduction and 2,986 afterward. The following drugs were selected for the new
preoperative multimodal analgesic medication because their use is well documented in studies and
there is clear evidence of their effectiveness: Paracetamol 2 g, Celecoxib 400 mg, Dexamethasone
8 mg (or 16 mg in the case of major surgery) and PreOp drink 200 ml. Dr Møller: “The use of new
multimodal analgesic techniques is a possible way of reconciling growing demands for an effective
treatment with the given financial situation.”
Source: EFIC IX “Pain in Europe”, Abstract Volume, Abstract 5-0655, J. Møller et al: Reduction in hospital stay by
27 % after the introduction of a new multimodal pre-operative medication
EFIC Press Office
B&K - Bettschart&Kofler Kommunikationsberatung
Dr Birgit Kofler
Ph.: +43 1 3194378; +43 676 6368930; +49 172 7949286
E-mail: kofler@bkkommunikation.com