E.MARTIN Acute pain services are now established worldwide and guidelines have been drawn for the management of acute pain resulting from surgical or medical procedures and trauma. However, the treatment of pain after surgery is still inadequate and no progress has been made in recent years in several coun tries, including Germany. There are still innumerable patients who find the is also no early postoperative period to be an unpleasant experience. There doubt that pain plays a role in the pathogenesis of postoperative complica tions that could be avoided with effective pain management....