Analgesia and Anaesthesia for Hysteroscopy

Pain is subjective. The level of pain a person experiences is affected not only by the painful stimulus but also by the person’s psychological interpretation of the pain and previous experiences. Medical procedures are inevitably associated with some level of discomfort but, by using analgesic and anaesthetic medications appropriately, we can minimise the pain experienced. In the outpatient setting, pain is the main driver of procedure acceptability. When appropriate techniques and equipment are used, and when analgesic use is tailored to the patient and the procedure, most women deem outpatient hysteroscopic procedures acceptable. Although performing hysteroscopic procedures under general anaesthetic means that perioperative pain is not an issue, it is still important to recognise the possibility of post-operative pain and provide adequate analgesia to manage it accordingly. The aim of this chapter is to cover techniques that can minimise pain and to discuss the use of analgesic and anaesthetic medication for hysteroscopic procedures.