ABSTRACT
Evidence-based medicine is said to be “the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients” and acute pain management practices should also be based on the best possible evidence available. Apart from the drug or technique used to provide pain relief, various other factors can affect the degree of pain or pain relief experienced. In most but not all cases, the differences are of interest only and cannot yet be used as a basis for individualizing patient treatment. The ability of analgesic drugs to reduce the risk of cancer recurrence and spread after surgery has also been under discussion. Chemical mediators released as part of the perioperative physiological surgical stress response are thought to be one of the factors implicated in the promotion of cancer growth and metastases after cancer surgery.
