Patterns of patient-controlled analgesia and intramuscular analgesia.

Effective management of acute pain is a major nursing goal. The purpose of this study was to identify patient patterns in intravenous patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) and intramuscular (IM) analgesia for patients after surgery. The patients who received analgesia via PCA had shorter lengths of stay. The morphine PCA patients used more medication than the IM group; the meperidine IM patients used more medication than the PCA patients. Patterns of the use of PCA and IM analgesia were identified. These provide additional information for the development of pain management protocols.