**3. Postoperative pain in orthopedic surgery-associated factors**

Postoperative pain is a common problem in orthopedic surgery and can have a meaningful impact on the patient's quality of life. There are several factors associated with postoperative pain in orthopedic surgery, including its severity, patient's age and anesthetic technique used. The severity of the surgery is an important factor that has been associated with postoperative pain, the more complex and invasive the surgery, for example, a total hip or knee arthroplasty, is associated with a higher incidence and severity of postoperative pain compared with simpler procedures like a fixed fracture [8]. Patient's age has also been related with postoperative pain in orthopedic surgery. Older patients can have less pain tolerance and can require an adequate strategy for its management [9, 10]. The anesthetic technique used can also be a part of the postoperative pain. Peripheral nerve blocks and regional anesthesia have been associated with a reduction in postoperative pain and opioid use [11, 12].

In order to prevent and handle postoperative pain in orthopedic surgery, various strategies have been implemented. One of the most effective strategies is the protocol implementation for multimodal pain management, which imply the use of multiple analgesia modalities to reduce the use of opioids and help in the patient's well-being [13]. They have also implemented patient's education about pain management and early mobilization [14].

In conclusion, postoperative pain is a common problem in orthopedic surgery and is associated to several factors like severity of the surgery, patient's age, and anesthetic technique used. Protocol implementation of multimodal pain management and patient's education are effective strategies for the reduction of postoperative pain.
