We used a 14-item patient questionnaire, Strategic and Clinical Quality Indicators in Postoperative Pain Management, to describe how orthopaedic patients assessed the quality of care they received. The patients highest and lowest assessments were compared to assessments by other groups of surgical patients as reported in studies being published. Our study included 300 inpatients from four different orthopaedic wards in two county councils in Sweden. Patients answered a questionnaire on the day of discharge. The response rate was 74%, and 44% of the respondents were male. Elective surgery was the main reason for admission, and the mean length of stay was 7.3 days. One of the items rated highest was that pain relief was given quickly when requested. A literature review showed that this item also received a high rating in other studies using the same patient questionnaire. The item rated lowest concerned the regular use of a pain assessment instrument, which also received a low rating from patient groups other than the orthopaedics in this study. In conclusion, we found that orthopaedic patients and other groups of surgical patients gave similar assessments concerning the highest and lowest assessments of postoperative pain management. Nevertheless, further improvement is needed. © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.