Resumen

CALDERON-VIDAL, Mariana; LUNA-HERNANDEZ, Pamela; URREA-VALDEZ, Blanca María Luisa  y  GARDUNO-LOPEZ, Ana Lilia. The ABCs of patient-controlled analgesia. Rev. mex. anestesiol. [online]. 2019, vol.42, n.3, pp.228-228.  Epub 13-Sep-2021. ISSN 0484-7903.

Patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) is the continuous and/or intermittent administration of opioid and non-opioid analgesics through a device with on-demand doses and patient control. Its mechanism anti-nociceptive has an effect on the perception of pain controlled by the patient himself, in synergy, with the action of the medications. Under the concept of minimum effective analgesic concentration, PCA pumps allow the stable plasma concentrations of the drugs, particularly opioids, to be maintained, reducing the nursing staff attention and the administration of drugs «for necessary reason». PCA pumps have a safety interval that prevents overdosing due to repetitive attempts by the patient to activate bolus and has been shown to provide better analgesia during the first 24 hours (moderate level of evidence). The most commonly routes are the intravenous and the epidural. In this review we present the basic steps for the use of these devices, preparation and programming of boluses or analgesic infusions, as well as safety steps during their use (visit http://www.painoutmexico.com to see the full article and videos).

Palabras llave : Patient-controlled analgesia; PCA; peridural infusions; intravenous infusions; patient controlled infusion pumps.