My Spine - Cervical
Am I going to have a lot of pain afterwards ?
Certain neck operations are known to cause a fair amount of pain . There are three options available after these operations : intramuscular or intravenous painkillers and oral tablets for less severe pain .
How often will I need painkillers ?
The anaesthetist will prescribe painkillers to be taken orally , or intramuscular injections . As soon as you start feeling uncomfortable , you should ask the nursing staff to give you tablets or an injection .
You are in the hospital after your neck operation partly to control your pain , and there is no need to have severe pain . In some cases we will use a PCA ( see below ), which allow you to control the amount of painkiller you receive .
Patient Controlled Analgesia ( PCA )
This is a method of pain relief ( usually with morphine ) which allows you to control the amount of painkiller you receive .
Why is this better than the nurse or specialist controlling it ?
Because patients vary enormously in how much painkiller they need . We use either an electronic PCA machine , which has a button similar to a bell , or a special PCA syringe , which has a simple lever , which is pressed .
The PCA machine ( or PCA syringe ) allows you control over the amount of painkiller administered . You do this by pressing the button ( or lever ) on the handset , if you have pain .
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