Introduction: Pain control in the post-operative period is an important component of wound healing and recovery after craniotomy. There are complex issues surrounding opioid use and misuse that influence provider prescribing practices. A multidisciplinary and multimodal approach to pain management can be effective in the care of the postoperative neurosurgical patient.

Methods: A review of the current literature surrounding populations' affected most by pain, the economic and emotional impact of pain on individuals and the healthcare system as a whole is explored. This review includes an analysis of the common neurosurgical procedures most likely to cause pain and explores various options for use of a multimodal, multidisciplinary approach to pain control.

Results: There are millions of pain sufferers in the U.S. Early identification of at-risk populations may assist providers in anticipating and providing more effective pain control. Concerns over opioid misuse and a belief that neurosurgical procedures, including craniotomy, cause minimal pain have led to more conservative prescribing practices, but studies suggest that improved multimodal approaches to post-operative pain control can potentially lead to improved patient outcomes and decreased hospital lengths of stay and health-related expenses.

Conclusions: Pain management can pose challenges in the care of the neurosurgical post operative patient. Perioperative craniotomy pain management involves a multidisciplinary approach with an emphasis on a multimodal analgesic approach.

Patient Care: It will promote the early identification of at-risk patients and may help providers develop more effective, individualized pain control plans.

Learning Objectives: By the conclusion of this session, participants should be able to 1)Identify issues surrounding pain, who is affected and understand pain as a major public health issue, 2)Identify issues surrounding opioid use and misuse, 3) Describe craniotomy specific pain management issues, 4) Understand the multimodal analgesic approach to craniotomy perioperative management

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