Pain Management

The Department of Anesthesiology is committed to helping relieve pain. Pain, as defined by the American Pain Society, is “an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage.” Pain is your body's way of calling attention to something that is not right. Pain can be an obstacle to recovery because it interferes with treatment and impedes the return to a full and active life. Pain is completely subjective. The gold standard is the patient's self-report.

Patient Rights

• Patients have the right to appropriate assessment and management of pain
• Pain is to be assessed on all patients
• Patients are taught that pain management is part of treatment

As a patient at Yale-New Haven you can expect:

• Information about pain and pain relief measures
• A concerned staff committed to pain prevention and management
• Health care professionals who respond quickly to reports of pain
• Your report of pain will be believed
• State of the art pain management
• Dedicated pain relief specialists

Why is Pain Management so important to your health?

• Unrelieved pain may cause negative physiological psychological or social effects on the patient
• Research shows unrelieved pain can slow recovery and increase anxiety

Also visit
Adult Pain Management
Pediatric Pain Managment