My Spine - Lumbar
Am I going to have a lot of pain afterwards?
Certain back operations are known to cause a fair amount of pain. There are
three options available after these operations: intramuscular or intravenous
painkillers and oral tablets for less severe pain.
How often will I need painkillers?
The anaesthetist will prescribe painkillers to be taken orally, or intramuscular
injections. As soon as you start feeling uncomfortable, you should ask the
nursing staff to give you tablets or an injection.
You are in the hospital after your back operation partly to control your pain,
and there is no need to have severe pain. In some cases we will use a PCA
(see below), which allow you to control the amount of painkiller you receive.
Patient Controlled Analgesia (PCA)
This is a method of pain relief (usually with morphine) which allows you to
control the amount of painkiller you receive.
Why is this better than the nurse or specialist controlling it?
Because patients vary enormously in how much painkiller they need. We use
either an electronic PCA machine, which has a button similar to a bell, or a
special PCA syringe, which has a simple lever, which is pressed.
The PCA machine (or PCA syringe) allows you control over the amount of
painkiller administered. You do this by pressing the button (or lever) on the
handset, if you have pain.
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