Efficacy of postoperative continuous wound infiltration with local anesthesia after open hepatectomy

Abstract

To evaluate the efficacy of continuous wound infusion of ropivacaine for postoperative pain relief after open hepatectomy. From May 2011 to December 2012, 60 patients undergoing open hepatectomy were randomized into normal saline continuous infusion group (n = 30) and 0.3% ropivacaine continuous infusion group (n = 30). The following variables were recorded for the 48 hours postoperatively: pain scores at rest and sedation score every 8 hours, total sufentanil consumption, first postoperative bowel movement, length of hospitalization, nausea and vomiting score, liver function change and other adverse events were also recorded. Pain scores at rest were lower for the ropivacaine group and reached significance after 8 h (all P < 0.05). The values of sufentanil consumption ((43.8 ± 21.8) vs (78.2 ± 35.2) µg, P < 0.01), time to bowel recovery ((1.2 ± 0.4) vs (1.5 ± 0.5) days, P < 0.01) and mean length of hospitalization ((6.1 ± 2.6) vs (7.6 ± 2.9) days, P < 0.05) decreased significantly. Sedation score and liver function recovery were better in ropivacaine group. No surgical wound infection occurred in either group. Surgical wound infusion with ropivacaine is safe and effective. And it improves postoperative pain relief and accelerates patients recovery and discharge with less damage to liver function.