In modern medicine, postoperative analgesia is consid ered an integral part of the anesthetic management. Thoracotomy has been reported to be among the most intense clinical postoperative pain experiences. If pain is poorly controlled in the postoperative period, respira tory excursions, movements, and coughing may result in muscle splinting, atelectasis and postoperative pulmo nary dysfunction. This article focuses on the various analgesic modalities that are available for altering the flow of nociceptive information from the periphery to cortex: (1) the transduction of nociceptive information at the peripheral receptor (local anesthetics, nonsteroi dal anti-inflammatory drugs); (2) the transmission of nociceptive information along the afferent sensory neu ral pathways (intercostal, intrapleural, or epidural local anesthetics); and finally, (3) the modulation of nocicep tive input at the level of the dorsal horn of the spinal cord (lumbar or thoracic epidural and intrathecal opi oids) or the brain (systemic opioids). Finally, the role of preemptive analgesia in thoracic surgery is discussed.
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