Assessment of Post-operative Pain and the Activities that Increases Pain among Patients Undergoing Gastrectomy

Pain is one of the most common experiences and stressors in patients undergoing G.I. Surgeries. Patients undergoing gastrectomy may experience frequent and moderate to severe pain postoperatively. The incidence and severity of pain and a multimodal approach (use of a combination of pain control strategies including opiods, NSAIDS, non-pharmacologic intervention) to acute post gastrectomy pain is recommended. The present study was undertaken to assess the level of pain experienced by patients after gastrectomy, to identify the post-operative activities that increases pain and to find out the association between pain score of patients and the selected variables. A descriptive research design was adopted. Setting was Hi-Tech Medical college and Hospital. Sample size was 40 and convenient sampling technique was used. Wong Bakers faces pain rating scale and a validated questionnaire was used as a tool. The maximum obtainable pain score was 19. t-tests showed that the mean pain score on the second post operative day was significantly less then that of first post operative day. Chisquare test reveals that there is significant association between different degrees of pain and the selected demographic variables.