“…Ease of administration and independence from any sort of catheter or device, thought to impair the patients’ mobilization or mobility, are obvious advantages of this approach. Despite the widespread adoption of protocols including oral opioids as rescue medication in most German hospitals, the effectiveness of such protocols has only been evaluated longitudinally in a before and after setting, meaning before and after their implementation within a clinical setting [ 2 , 3 , 5 , 6 , 9 , 14 , 15 , 18 , 27 , 32 , 35 ]. Patient-controlled intravenous analgesia (PCIA) has been the technique of choice for comparisons for years and is still considered the gold standard [ 21 ].…”