Managing Pain After Laparoscopic Surgery

Problem and Need for the Study

Overprescription of opioids for postoperative pain management puts patients at risk of overdose, contributing to the ongoing public health crisis of opioid-related deaths. Using evidence-based clinical practice guidelines to manage pain can minimize opioid use while offering pain relief.

Despite being a common type of procedure, abdominal laparoscopic surgeries lack comprehensive, evidence-based clinical practice guidelines for pain management. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) identified these surgeries as a high priority area for clinical practice guideline development.

Innovation and Impact

The goal of this project is to develop, implement, and evaluate comprehensive, evidence-based clinical practice guidelines for pain management before, during, and after abdominal laparoscopic surgery. We want to minimize the use of opioids while still effectively treating patients’ pain.

Our aims are to:

• Develop a set of clinical practice guidelines for abdominal laparoscopic surgery pain management at the Minnesota Evidence-Based Practice Center
• Implement the guidelines and disseminate widely through public-facing materials
• Evaluate and assess the guidelines in practice