Observation on Clinical Effects of Postoperative Analgesia with Sufentanil After Upper and Lower Abdominal Surgery: A Prospective Study

Abstract

Post-operative analgesia is crucial to facilitate early ambulation, prevent complications, increase patient satisfaction while ensuring a faster recovery pace. Opioid analgesics have been recognized as the mainstay for treatment of acute pain in a majority of postoperative care units. Intravenous patient-controlled analgesia (IVPCA) with the opioids drugs sufentanil and fentanyl has proven to be effective when used in the immediate postoperative period. The aim of the study was to determine the efficacy and safety of sufentanil for postoperative analgesia based on the same principle, and, fentanyl citrate was chosen as a control drug for upper and lower abdominal operations under general anesthesia. Methodology; It was a prospective clinical study carried out at Union hospital, from December 2014 to March 2015. 240 patients were scheduled for upper and lower abdominal surgery requiring general anesthesia. They were divided into four groups: test group (A) and control group (B); (C) and (D), and are given fentanyl and sufentanil by IVPCA for postoperative analgesia relief following surgery. Pain was assessed by the visual analogue Scale. The determined pain relief; pulse rate, BP, ECG, sedation score, SPO2, pruritus score, nausea score and vomiting score were all recorded for each patient. Results The pressing times values show that fentanyl (A) and high dose sufentanil (C, D) both provided a satisfactory level of analgesia. Moreover, VAS scores of the patients on high dose sufentanil (C, D) were lower, implying superior analgesic effects at these doses. However, low dose sufentanil (B) may only provide limited and inadequate analgesia. The degree of pruritus was less marked in patients on sufentanil than those on fentanyl as demonstrated by the lower Pruritus scores in sufentanil groups (B, C, D). Low dose sufentanil and fentanyl have shown to have similar extent of side effects overall. Conclusion It was found that sufentanil had superior analgesic effect to that of fentanyl in patients who had undergone open abdominal surgery. The extent of the occurrence of adverse reactions to light in the low-dose sufentanil group (B) is less than that in the high-dose groups (C, D), the concentration of persistent postoperative analgesia sufentanil should reach 0.02μg / (kg ml), and the flow rate maintained at 2ml / h.