Pain management following robotic thoracic surgery

Abstract

For robotic thoracic surgical patients, minimizing pulmonary complications is the key to decreasing morbidity. Once the pain is controlled, the morbidity associated with thoracic surgery is decreased. Consequently, control of pain is the core requirement in robotic thoracic surgical patients. Appropriate pain control depends on a multifaceted program that is based on an understanding of the pathophysiology of pain. A multifaceted pain control program after robotic surgery needs to address local and systemic pain pathways. This review outlines such a multifaceted program with the use of subpleural catheters for prolonged ambulatory infusion of local anesthetic for 10 days, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents, and measured use of narcotic analgesics.