Background Effective perioperative analgesia can favor the postoperative rehabilitation and satisfaction of patient; but opioids, the most commonly used analgesic drug, still make some patients suffer due to its high incidence of adverse reactions. The emergence of the theory of multimodal analgesia (MMA) makes it possible to alleviate this contradiction. Objective To review the effects and aroused problems of commonly used drugs applied to MMA in recent years. Content MMA can improve postoperative analgesia, and to some extent reduce analgesia dosages and adverse reactions. However, due to the restrictions of the side effects of drugs, joint use of multiple drugs still needs more research to support. Trend Multidisciplinary management has become the trend in the development of modern medicine; improved postoperative analgesia is undoubtedly one of the important parts. There is huge potential for MMA to achieve the goal “the maximum analgesic effect, the minimum adverse reactions” in the postoperative pain management.