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Patient-Controlled Analgesia. As an alternative to intermittent bolus dosing of medication, patients may be provided with a mechanism to address their own analgesic requirements (patient-controlled analgesia [PCA]). Rather than wide swings between inadequate analgesia and oversedation, the PCA regimen is designed to allow patients to self-titrate their dosing to optimize their pain management (Table 7-6 and Fig. 7-8).