Benham Leonie, Benbow Helen, Hansen Carolyn
Intensive Care Unit, Blackpool Victoria Hospital.
Nurs Times. 2003;99(23):52-5.
Patient-controlled analgesia uses an infusion pump to administer analgesia to the patient intravenously in small bolus doses. Administration of the doses is controlled by the patient up to a prescribed maximum dose (Pasero and McCaffrey, 1994). The use of PCA is increasing in hospitals, partly due to the range of reported benefits it has for patients (Thomas, 1993). It is particularly useful in the control of postoperative pain (Thomas, 1993), and avoids the need for other pain relief methods such as intramuscular injections.
