Pain management article achieves recognition | News

An article co-authored by Professor Bill Fawcett, Consultant in Anaesthesia and Pain Medicine at Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust, is the most cited paper published in Anaesthesia journal.

Focusing on the comprehensive, multidisciplinary care needed to manage post-operative pain in adults, the article has received the highest number of citations from other research papers in its field of publication in the last year.

The article, Peri-operative pain management in adults: a multidisciplinary consensus statement from the Association of Anaesthetists and the British Pain Society, was developed to give a balanced, patient-centred approach for clinicians in one unified document, bringing together recent knowledge and interventions. 

Professor Fawcett said: “I’m proud to report that this article has been so widely cited. It’s great to know that our Trust is recognised in sharing knowledge with a global audience. 

“Nearly half of adult patients undergoing surgery experience moderate or severe post-operative pain. Inadequate pain management hampers post-operative recovery and may be associated with adverse outcomes, including chronic post-surgical pain. This article provides principles that should be applied by healthcare professionals, institutions, and patients to improve recovery. In particular it gives advice to minimise the use of opioids, thus reducing adverse events like respiratory depression and long-term opioid dependence.”

Ranked in the top three of international anaesthetic journals, Anaesthesia is the official journal of the Association of Anaesthetists.