ABSTRACT
In 1976 the first commercially available device for providing patient-controlled analgesia was described by Evans and colleagues. This device was easy to tamper with, cumbersome and simple but reliable. Developments in PCA since that time have resulted in reduced size, lighter weight, tamperproofing, robustness, stepper motors, digital pulses, microprocessors, memory and programs to control infusions. However, several cases of overdose have been reported with PCA.
