Oxycodone versus morphine for titration analgesia after laparoscopic gynecologic surgery in postanesthesia care unit: A prospective, randomized trial

Abstract

We want to compare the efficacy and side effects of oxycodone and morphine in the management of postoperative pain by titration in patients who underwent laparoscopic gynecologic surgery because of neglect of postoperative analgesia and rare literature of intravenous oxycodone used in PACU, China. Thirty adult female patients were scheduled for elective laparoscopic gynecologic surgery under general anesthesia. The patients were randomly assigned to either morphine sulfate injection group (Group M, n = 15 cases) or oxycodone hydrochloride injection group (Group O, n = 15 cases). All the patients were given an intravenous PEG nanometer drug delivery system. Furthermore, when they arrived at the postanesthesia care unit (PACU), a visual analog scale (VAS) was used to evaluate postoperative pain. Also, the patients were given 3 mg oxycodone or morphine for titration when the pain VAS score was more than 30 mm, and the pain and sedation scores were re-evaluated after 5 minutes. The titration stopped if the VAS score was ≤ 30 mm otherwise the titration continued as per the above method until the VAS score was less than 30 mm. The required titration dosage, times, and time of oxycodone titration were noted and they were all remarkably lower than those of morphine titration group (P < 0.05). The incidence of side effects in Group M was statistically significantly higher in Group O (P < 0.05). More so, oxycodone titration showed faster analgesic effects, less analgesic drug consumption, and lower incidence of adverse complications during postoperative pain management when compared to morphine titration. The reliability and effectiveness of the PEG nanometer drug delivery system were simultaneously proved.