Use of Patient Controlled Analgesics in the management of pain in Orthognathic Surgery – A randomised controlled trial pilot study

The aim of this project is to show whether if there is a difference in the length of hospital stay and effect on health economics for patients who are using ‘patient controlled analgesics’ (PCA) compared to those patients who are on conventional oral or intravenous pain relief administered by nurse. The significance of this project is that, if there is a difference between the two groups, PCA and conventional pain relief group, this can help improve the cost of service to the patient. Reduced length of hospital stay means earlier discharge for the patients to their own environment for recovery and prevents nosocomial infections, this will also free up hospital bed for other patients and reduce the cost of administering PCA. The research question is whether there is a difference in the length of hospital stay for patients who are using PCA compared to conventional analgesics after orthognathic jaw surgery. Our hypothesis is that, those patients who are on PCA will have prolonged hospital stay compared to those who are on conventional oral or intravenous analgesics.