Is multimodal analgesia as effective as postoperative patient-controlled analgesia following upper extremity surgery?

61 patients were randomized to determine the efficacy of multiodal analgesia compared to intravenous patient-controlled analgesia with opioids for pain management following elbow surgery. Pain, rescue analgesic requirements, ability to achieve scheduled rehabilitation, and patient satisfaction were assessed over the first 14 postoperative days. The results indicated that pain, either at rest or during exercise, was similarly reduced between the two analgesia methods. Opioid-related complications were lower with multimodal analgesia, and patients were more satisfied with the multimodal regimen.