Postoperative pain is a process that begins with surgical trauma and ends with tissue repair. In this process, a number of systems are involved including the neuroendocrine, respiratory, renal, gastrointestinal, circulatory, and autonomic nerve systems. Serious pain problems occur in patients undergoing major surgical interventions such as thoracic or abdominal operations. Postoperative pain may be particularly severe in thoracotomy patients. After thoracotomy, elimination of pain with an effective analgesic may accelerate recovery and reduce complication rates during the postoperative period. Thus, the patient can be mobilized earlier and the length of hospitalization may be shortened. Although thoracic epidural analgesia is the most efficient and commonly practiced method for the control of severe post-thoracotomy pain, it is associated with some serious complications. Therefore, instead of placing full reliance on a single method, it may be more convenient to utilize medications and analgesic methods in combination in the postoperative period of thoracotomy patients.

Keywords : Analgesia, epidural/methods; analgesics, opioid; combined modality therapy; pain, postoperative/prevention & control; thoracic surgical procedures; thoracotomy