Background: Standardized treatment approaches can improve the quality of the management of acute postoperative pain.
Aim: The purpose of this study was to describe the content and structure of currently implemented standards for the management of acute postoperative pain in German hospitals and to better define the concept of a treatment standard for acute pain.
Material and methods: Written standardized treatment protocols from 68 hospitals for the management of acute postoperative pain were analyzed. The evaluation was based on the layout of processes, the baseline and rescue or on-demand analgesic medication and safety mechanisms.
Results: A treatment standard per hospital separated for adults (68 standards) and children (27 standards) was identified and analyzed. A baseline medication was provided in all standards for adults and in 89% for children. Of the 95 standards 68% routinely combined opioids and non-opioids as a basis (78% for adults and 42% for children). A way to adapt the baseline medication was described more often in standards for adults. Of the standards for adults 91% (85% for children) contained provisions for rescue or on-demand analgesia and half of them (both adults and children) included an immediate-release opioid formulation, which was readily available. For adults the availability was regulated by a predefined process in 29% of the standards (8% for children). In cases of persisting pain, repetition of the rescue medication was generally possible in 63% of adult standards (54% for children) but within 1 h after the first dose in only 43% (30% for children). Intervention limitations for application of the rescue medication (e.g., a defined score on the numeric rating scale) were set in 63% of adult standards (54% for children). A follow-up assessment of the pain intensity after a rescue medication was only required in approximately half of the standards and safety information or mechanisms were only rarely included.
Conclusion: Content, structure and type of the evaluated treatment standards showed a considerable heterogeneity with respect to the availability of rescue and baseline medication. Safety aspects were not addressed in many cases. These findings show that despite the requirements of the German guidelines for treatment of perioperative and posttraumatic pain for treatment standards, there are still no practical recommendations with respect to contents and structure of such standards.