BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Postoperative pain control, although of recognized importance, is still described as inadequate. So, this study aimed at exposing the scenario of postoperative pain control in patients hospitalized for general abdominal surgery. METHOD: This is a transversal, quantitative, observational, descriptive and non randomized study carried out through a questionnaire applied to patients hospitalized up to 48 h after abdominal surgery. The questionnaire addresses the following variables: age, gender, surgical procedure, postoperative hours, presence of pain and intensity by the visual analog scale (VAS). RESULTS: Participated in this study 165 patients of whom 40 have referred pain, being 26 females (28.57%) and 14 males (18.92%). Procedures to which patients were submitted were classified in open and closed, being closed the most common procedures. Open surgeries were among the most painful procedures (colectomy, hiatal hernia repair, choledoctomy, colostomy, gastrostomy) with 100% of pain and laparotomy with approximately 60%. Less painful closed procedure was cholecystectomy (88.33%), and just 11.67% had mild to moderate pain. There has been predominance of mild to moderate pain among males and of moderate to severe pain among females. CONCLUSION: Pain prevalence and intensity observed in the postoperative period have shown that the control is adequate for laparoscopic procedures; however, it has to be adjusted for patients submitted to open procedures, for senescence and for females.
Abdominal surgery; Analgesia; Pain measurement; Postoperative pain
