The degree to which a surgical patient’s subconscious processing of pain, or «nociception,» is properly managed by their anesthesiologist will directly affect the degree of post-operative drug side effects they’ll experience and the need for further pain management they’ll require. But pain is a subjective feeling to measure, even when patients are awake, much less when they are unconscious.
New models quantify how ‘nociception’ could help improve management of surgical pain
The degree to which a surgical patient's subconscious processing of pain, or "nociception," is properly managed by their anesthesiologist will directly affect the degree of post-operative drug side effects they'll experience and the need for further pain management they'll require. But pain is a subjective feeling to measure, even when patients are awake, much less when they are unconscious.