Perioperative Pain Management Using Local and Regional Analgesia for Cardiothoracic Surgeries, Mastectomy, and Abdominal Surgeries in Adults and Children

- Glossary

Basic Principles and Terminology

The following definitions are used For the purposes of this guideline:

Dynamic pain: is defined as pain with cough or movement. It is pain triggered or severely worsened by by physical activity, movement, or pressure (also called movement-evoked pain).

Minimal Clinically Important Difference (MCID): refers to the smallest change in a treatment outcome or health score that a patient perceives as meaningful and beneficial. An MCID of 1 point means that a tiny shift of just one single point on a clinical rating scale (such as a 0–10 pain scale or symptom checklist) is enough to represent a real-world, noticeable difference in how a patient feels or functions.

Oral Morphine Equivalent (OME): is a standardized metric used to calculate and compare the potency of different opioid pain medications (e.g., oxycodone, hydrocodone, fentanyl) relative to oral morphine. 

Static pain (or pain at rest): pain felt when the body is completely still.

Truncal blocks: are regional anesthesia techniques where local anesthetics are injected into the chest, abdomen, or back to disrupt pain signaling from the T2 through L1 spinal nerves.