This article updates acute pain management in ambulatory surgery and proposes a practical three-step approach for reducing the impact and incidence of uncontrolled surgical pain. By identifying at-risk patients, implementing multimodal analgesia, and intervening promptly with rescue therapies, the anesthesiologist may improve outcomes, reduce cost, and optimize the patient's experience and quality of recovery.
Keywords: Acute pain management; Ambulatory surgery; Multimodal analgesia; Multimodal pain management; Outpatient surgery.
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