Perioperative Pain: Molecular Mechanisms and Future Perspectives

authors:

avatar Zahra Talebi 1 , * , avatar Ali Dabbagh ORCID 2

Anesthesiology Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Cardiac Anesthesiology Department, Anesthesiology Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran,

how to cite: Talebi Z, Dabbagh A. Perioperative Pain: Molecular Mechanisms and Future Perspectives. J Cell Mol Anesth. 2017;2(3):e149534. https://doi.org/10.22037/jcma.v2i3.15119.

Abstract

Background: Acute perioperative pain is seen in more than 80% of patients undergoing surgery, with almost 75% of them experiencing moderate, severe, or extreme pain; adequate postoperative pain management is not achieved in a satisfactory manner. This styudy was desined ana performed to assess the molecular mechanisms of acute pain management in order to find novel future perspectives.Materials and Methods: In this narrative review, molecular mechanisms of currently available pain controlling agents were assessed based on 3 steps: preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative phases. Drugs used in each phase and potential novel agents were assessed separately.Results: many currently available clinical agents were discussed and meanwhile, other potential drugs that could be among the future choices are discussed.Conclusion: cellular and molecular medicine could open new windows in order to discover novel agents for management of pain; we will have possibly many new agents that will be available in future while they will be different from currently used clinical pain killers.