Management of postoperative analgesia in patients after craniotomy

In a review paper, an analysis of publications in the world literature on the problem of acute postoperative pain in neurosurgical patients who underwent craniotomy is performed. Is shown that problem of acute postoperative pain in patients after craniotomy was underestimated for a long time. Mistakenly was thought that these patients do not experience any pain in the early postoperative period. Results of recent studies have shown that up to 80% of these patients may experience acute pain in the range from mild to severe. Unarrested postoperative pain could cause a number of serious secondary complications. This article demonstrates basic approaches to the prevention and treatment of acute postoperative pain in neurosurgical patients after craniotomy--first of all, the use of narcotic analgesics, NSAIDs, and other approaches.