Improving Patient Outcomes Through State-of-the-Art Pain Control in Breast Cancer Surgery

Acute postsurgical pain continues to be difficult to manage in patients who undergo breast cancer surgery. Poorly controlled pain can lead to poor patient satisfaction, increased length of stay, and increased risk of opioid adverse events, and may be a factor in the development of chronic pain. A multimodal analgesic regimen that consists of 2 or more nonopioid medications and is initiated in the preoperative phase and continued during the intraoperative and acute postoperative phases may provide the best patient outcomes. These nonopioid medications include, but are not limited to, local anesthetics, acetaminophen, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, antiepileptics, alpha-2-adrenergic antagonists, N-methyl-D-aspartate antagonists, and glucocorticoids. This multimodal approach can be a stand-alone protocol or a part of a more comprehensive enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) protocol.