Pain relief for surgery

How is the pain controlled after surgery?

Your anaesthetist has a very important role to play with the management of pain after surgery.

Routinely, your child will be given pain relief medications while they are anaesthetised to make the child as comfortable as possible when they wake up. If your child is uncomfortable in recovery, it can be addressed quickly with further administration of pain medicines.

After the operation pain relief is usually offered as tablets or syrups. Commonly used medicines include paracetamol, anti-inflammatories (eg. ibuprofen) and codeine. For major surgery, stronger medicines given through the drip may need to be given. Your anaesthetist will discuss with you pain relief options.

For some types of surgery, a caudal epidural injection of local anaesthetic can be given. This has the benefit of providing excellent pain relief which typically lasts for 6 to 18 hours after the operation. The injection is made near the 'tail bone' and is very safe. Side effects from a caudal injection include temporary leg weakness. Serious complications such as nerve damage and paralysis resulting from a caudal injection are extremely rare.