Effect of Preemptive Systemic Patient-controlled Analgesia in Evisceration

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the effect of preemptive systemic analgesia using patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) on postoperative pain after evisceration.Methods: Of the patients who underwent evisceration under general anesthesia in our hospital, 55 who were able to evaluate pain using a numeral rating scale (NRS) were included. The patients were divided into two groups: group 1 used PCA after surgery, and group 2 used PCA preemptively before surgery. We compared the two groups in terms of the NRS pain scores on the day of surgery and 1, 2, and 3 days after surgery, and according to whether additional analgesics were used.Results: The 55 patients included 17 in group 1 and 38 in group 2. The NRS at 3, 5, and 7 hours on the day of surgery tended to be lower in group 2, but not significantly (<i>p</i> > 0.05). The NRS on days 1 and 2 after surgery was significantly lower in group 2 (<i>p</i> = 0.014 and <i>p</i> = 0.027, respectively), and the NRS on day 3 after surgery was also lower, although not significantly (<i>p</i> = 0.059). Significantly fewer cases required additional analgesics in group 2 compared to group 1 on the day of surgery and 1, 2, and 3 days after surgery (<i>p</i> = 0.001, <i>p</i> < 0.001, <i>p</i> < 0.001, and <i>p</i> = 0.008, respectively).Conclusions: Using preemptive systemic PCA in evisceration significantly reduced the postoperative pain, and PCA itself was an effective administration method due to the high rate of pain control without the need for additional analgesics.