Kvinnor och mäns smärtskattning och smärtbehandling efter dagkirurgi ur ett jämställdhetsperspektiv

Sammanfattning: Background: Acute postoperative pain goes undertreated to a large extent. Previous studies have shown that women experience more postoperative pain than men, although it’s unclear whether women receive the equivalent amount of pain relief to that of men. Multimodal pain management is recommended to optimize postoperative pain relief. This needs to be studied further, to clarify whether pain management is gender equal in outpatient surgery. Aim: To study postoperative pain from a gender equality perspective at an outpatient surgery center, and to examine whether there is any difference in pain intensity and pain management between men and women. Method: The study was a descriptive cross-sectional study with a quantitative approach, including data collection from medical records and patient data management system. The study was conducted at an outpatient surgery center in central Sweden, and included 69 patients, 37 women and 32 men, ASA 1-3. Pain was measured with NRS verbally, <1 h, 2 h and 24 h postoperative. Pain management data was collected from a patient data management system. Results: Women experience statistically significant more pain within the first postoperative hour and received statistically significant less opioids than men. Women had a tendency to receive less NSAID and multimodal pain management than men. Conclusion: Postoperative pain management after outpatient surgery is not gender equal. Women should receive more opioids and NSAID when possible to optimize postoperative pain relief.