Glossary of Anesthesia Terms

AKA: PCA

Patient controlled analgesia refers to a strategy that allows patients to control and activate delivery of analgesic medications. This technique uses a sophisticated, computer-controlled pump to deliver appropriate amounts of medication in response to a patient's needs. PCA can be used either with epidural analgesia or intravenous medications.

Local anaesthetics such as Naropin or Bupivicaine may be infused with or without the addition of a narcotic into the epidural space. Alternatively, a strong "narcotic" painkiller such as Morphine, Pethidine or Fentanil may be loaded into a pump and either run as a continuous infusion or allow the patients to self administer a dose when required.