Multimodal Analgesia

Described in this document are the Stanford University algorithms for extracting both cases and controls of Multimodal analgesia from electronic health records (EHR) for surgical patients. Multiple clinical trials have tested the use of so called multimodal analgesic approach for pain management during the inpatient perioperative phase and found this approach to be associated with improved pain outcomes.1-4 There is strong evidence that the addition of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID’s) and/or acetaminophen to the postoperative treatment plan reduces early pain intensity and morphine consumption.5,6  For that reason, postoperative pain management guidelines including those issued by the American Pain Society and the American Society of Anesthesiologists recommend multimodal analgesia for postoperative pain.7,8 For the purpose of this phenotype, multimodal regimen at discharge has been defined as using opioids in combination with another analgesic such as NSAID and/or acetaminophen.