Pain, Analgesic Use, and Morbidity in Appendectomy Patients

Pain has immunosuppressive effects among the critically and chronically ill, and opioids may immunomodulate pain’s deleterious effects. However, little is known about the relations between acute pain, acute illness, and morbidity among previously healthy surgical patients. This study retrospectively examined these relations in appendectomy patients (N = 61). Eleven patients (18%) had morbidity, with atelectasis (11.5%) the most frequent complication. There were no differences between those patients with and without morbidity and pain intensity, method of opioid administration, and total opioid dose. Patients who received nonopioid analgesics received fewer opioids, less preemptive analgesia, and had less morbidity, whereas patients whose appendixes perforated received higher opioid doses and received more preemptive analgesia. Although the relations between acute pain, opioid use, and morbidity among previously healthy surgical patients are unclear, findings infer that clinical practice does not follow guidelines advocated by analgesic experts.