Acute pain in the elderly: Management options

In the last decade, we have seen an increasing number of elderly surgical patients. Most of them are in‐hospital patients, but, we also find a trend towards ambulatory cases, particularly for short procedures such as cataract extraction, herniorrhapy, and other minor procedures. For major surgeries, the successful outcome is much influenced by the adequacy of postoperative pain control. Good pain control leads to fast recovery and resumption of mobility of patients. The multimodal analgesic therapy has been advocated, using combinations of opioids and non‐opioid analgesics. Patient‐controlled analgesia (PCA) and the use of epidural anesthesia techniques facilitate optimum postoperative pain relief with less adverse effects and risks. Several management options for acute pain in the elderly are presented in this brief discourse.