First Request For Additional Analgesia Research Articles

Ultrasound Guided Subcostal Transversus Abdominis Plane Block For Postoperative Analgesia After Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy ( comparative Study Between Bubivacaine Versus Bubivacaine-Ketamine)

Background: Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is the surgical removal of gall bladder and is the common treatment of symptomatic gall stone and other GB conditions. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy can be performed under general anaesthesia which is frequently associated with persistent postoperative pain. Aim of work: comparing between adding ketamine to bupivacaine and bupivacaine alone for postoperative pain in patients receiving ultrasound guided subcostal transversus abdominis plane block (TAPB) after laparoscopic cholecystectomy regarding the time of the first request for additional analgesia, pain Scores, total analgesic consumption and analgesic efficacy. Patients and methods: This study was carried out in al-azhar university hospital on 28 adult patients aged 30 to 60 years, American society of anesthesiologists (ASA) class I - II scheduled for laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Patients were randomized, double blind controlled into two equal groups (fourteen patients each). Results: The Comparison between the two studied groups according to time till first opioids requirement, the duration of the block, requirement for opioids, early ambulation, patients satisfaction and the incidence of nausea and vomiting was statistically insignificant. As regarding patient complication no local anaesthetic toxicity no hematoma or excessive tissue trauma had been developed at the site of injection in both group. Conclusion: Addition of ketamine to bupivacaine in patients receiving subcostal (TAPB) guided with ultrasound for laparoscopic cholecystectomy result in statistically insignificant longer time till first opioids requirement and prolonged the duration of the block, statistically insignificant fewer requirement for opioids and statistically insignificant early ambulation, patient more satisfied. Keywords: Bubivacaine, Bubivacaine-Ketamine, Ultrasound, Analgesia, Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy

Effect of intravenous lidocaine infusion on long-term postoperative pain after spinal fusion surgery.

Background:Intravenous lidocaine infusion is known to reduce postoperative pain for days or weeks beyond the infusion time, and plasma half-life in several types of surgical procedures.Objectives:To evaluate the effect of intravenous (IV) lidocaine infusion on long term postoperative pain intensity for 3 months in patients undergoing spinal fusion surgery.Study Design:Prospective randomized, double-blinded study.Setting:Assiut University Hospital, Assiut, Egypt.Methods:Forty patients undergoing spinal fusion surgery were randomized into 2 equal groups (n = 20 in each). Patients in the lidocaine group received IV lidocaine at a dosage of 2.0 mg/kg slowly before induction of anesthesia, followed by lidocaine IV infusion at a rate of 3.0 mg/kg/h until the end of surgery. Patients in the control group received an equal volume of normal saline. The following data were assessed: pain by Visual Analog Score (VAS) at 1 hour, 6 hours, 12 hours, 24 hours, 48 hours, at discharge time, and at 1 month, 2 months, and 3 months post-operation, time to first request for additional analgesia, and total morphine consumption in 24 hours.Results:Lidocaine significantly reduced the postoperative pain score (VAS) for up to 3 months (P < .05), and significantly reduced morphine consumption (4.5 mg vs. 19.85 mg) in the 1st 24 hours postoperative. Lidocaine also significantly, prolonged (P < .05) the time to first request for additional analgesia (9.56 ± 2.06 hours vs 1.82 ± 0.91 hours).Conclusion:Intra-operative lidocaine, when given intravenously as a bolus followed by an infusion, significantly decreased long term postoperative back pain intensity in patients undergoing spinal fusion surgery.

Pitfalls in Chronobiology

The duration of analgesia from epidural administration of local anesthetics to parturients has been shown to follow a rhythmic pattern according to the time of drug administration. We studied whether there was a similar pattern after intrathecal administration of bupivacaine in parturients. In the course of the analysis, we came to believe that some data points coincident with provider shift changes were influenced by nonbiological, health care system factors, thus incorrectly suggesting a periodic signal in duration of labor analgesia. We developed graphical and analytical tools to help assess the influence of individual points on the chronobiological analysis. Women with singleton term pregnancies in vertex presentation, cervical dilation 3 to 5 cm, pain score >50 mm (of 100 mm), and requesting labor analgesia were enrolled in this study. Patients received 2.5 mg of intrathecal bupivacaine in 2 mL using a combined spinal-epidural technique. Analgesia duration was the time from intrathecal injection until the first request for additional analgesia. The duration of analgesia was analyzed by visual inspection of the data, application of smoothing functions (Supersmoother; LOWESS and LOESS [locally weighted scatterplot smoothing functions]), analysis of variance, Cosinor (Chronos-Fit), Excel, and NONMEM (nonlinear mixed effect modeling). Confidence intervals (CIs) were determined by bootstrap analysis (1000 replications with replacement) using PLT Tools. Eighty-two women were included in the study. Examination of the raw data using 3 smoothing functions revealed a bimodal pattern, with a peak at approximately 0630 and a subsequent peak in the afternoon or evening, depending on the smoother. Analysis of variance did not identify any statistically significant difference between the duration of analgesia when intrathecal injection was given from midnight to 0600 compared with the duration of analgesia after intrathecal injection at other times. Chronos-Fit, Excel, and NONMEM produced identical results, with a mean duration of analgesia of 38.4 minutes (95% CI: 35.4-41.6 minutes), an 8-hour periodic waveform with an amplitude of 5.8 minutes (95% CI: 2.1-10.7 minutes), and a phase offset of 6.5 hours (95% CI: 5.4-8.0 hours) relative to midnight. The 8-hour periodic model did not reach statistical significance in 40% of bootstrap analyses, implying that statistical significance of the 8-hour periodic model was dependent on a subset of the data. Two data points before the change of shift at 0700 contributed most strongly to the statistical significance of the periodic waveform. Without these data points, there was no evidence of an 8-hour periodic waveform for intrathecal bupivacaine analgesia. Chronobiology includes the influence of external daily rhythms in the environment (e.g., nursing shifts) as well as human biological rhythms. We were able to distinguish the influence of an external rhythm by combining several novel analyses: (1) graphical presentation superimposing the raw data, external rhythms (e.g., nursing and anesthesia provider shifts), and smoothing functions; (2) graphical display of the contribution of each data point to the statistical significance; and (3) bootstrap analysis to identify whether the statistical significance was highly dependent on a data subset. These approaches suggested that 2 data points were likely artifacts of the change in nursing and anesthesia shifts. When these points were removed, there was no suggestion of biological rhythm in the duration of intrathecal bupivacaine analgesia.

Effects of epidural clonidine and neostigmine following intrathecal labour analgesia: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

Background The limited duration of spinal labour analgesia combined with problems associated with maintenance of epidural analgesia, have prompted the search for combinations that could prolong spinal analgesia. A randomised, double-blind trial was carried out to test the hypotheses (a) that initial spinal labour analgesia is prolonged by administering clonidine and neostigmine epidurally whilst (b) the hourly local anaesthetic consumption is reduced. Methods Seventy labouring patients received spinal analgesia with ropivacaine and sufentanil. Fifteen minutes after spinal injection, 10 mL of study solution was administered epidurally. The study solution was plain saline or neostigmine 500 μg combined with clonidine 75 μg. Outcome parameters were duration of spinal analgesia, local anaesthetic consumption and number of patients delivering without additional epidural analgesia. Results Epidural clonidine and neostigmine significantly prolonged initial analgesia: 144 (105–163) min vs. 95 (70–120) min in the placebo group and reduced hourly ropivacaine consumption: 7.5 (3.0–11.9) mg vs. 12.7 (9.6–16.9) mg. More patients in the experimental group delivered before the first request for additional analgesia (9 vs. 2). Conclusion Epidural administration of neostigmine 500 μg and clonidine 75 μg, following the intrathecal injection of ropivacaine and sufentanil, prolongs analgesia and reduces hourly ropivacaine consumption.

Comparison of three doses of epidural fentanyl followed by bupivacaine and fentanyl for labor analgesia

Epidural fentanyl 100 microg after lidocaine-epinephrine test dose has been shown to provide adequate analgesia in early labor. This investigation determines the effect of three different bolus doses of epidural fentanyl on duration and quality of analgesia during early first stage of labor. In this prospective, double-blind study, 103 laboring nulliparous at cervical dilation <5 cm were enrolled. After an epidural test dose of lidocaine (60 mg) with epinephrine (15 microg), parturients received, randomly, bolus of epidural fentanyl 50, 75, or 100 microg, followed by a continuous infusion of epidural bupivacaine 0.0625% and fentanyl 3 microg/ml at a rate of 10 ml/h. Pain scores and maternal sedation, pruritus, nausea, and vomiting were recorded 10, 20, and 30 min after fentanyl, and every 30 min thereafter until first request for additional analgesia. Adequate analgesia was achieved in 87% (28/32), 94% (35/38), and 94% (31/33) in the fentanyl 50, 75, and 100 microg groups within 20 min. Mean duration of analgesia before re-dosing was significantly longer in fentanyl 100 and 75 microg groups (185.6+/-82.9 and 188.5+/-82.2 min, respectively) as compared with fentanyl 50 microg group (133.6+/-46.2 min, P<0.016). There was no difference in the incidence of maternal side effects or neonatal Apgar scores among the three groups. After a test dose of lidocaine-epinephrine, the three epidural fentanyl doses produced similar effective labor analgesia. However, epidural fentanyl 75 microg followed by epidural infusion of dilute bupivacaine and fentanyl produced longer duration of analgesia than fentanyl 50 microg followed by the same infusion, with no further prolongation when the dose of fentanyl was increased up to 100 microg.

Subarachnoid Analgesia in Advanced Labor: A Comparison of Subarachnoid Analgesia and Pudendal Block in Advanced Labor: Analgesic Quality and Obstetric Outcome

Pain control during labor is a primary objective of antalgic therapy. The use of the peridural as an elective procedure for labor analgesia is now corroborated by the international scientific community. Sometimes a combined spinal-peridural procedure is used together with the intrathecal administration of opioids to also cover the first stage of labor. Unfortunately, patients and/or gynecologists often request analgesia in a late stage of labor. The aim of our study was to evaluate the possibility of using a subarachnoid block alone for labor analgesia when this is requested at a late stage, that is, in advanced labor with cervical dilation greater than 7 cm. After approval by our ethics committee and the written and informed consent of the patients, 111 women were enrolled in this study and randomly divided into two groups. The first group (Group S: 55 patients) received a subarachnoid block with 2.5 mg hyperbaric bupivacaine + 25 mug fentanyl + 1 mL 10% glucose. A pudendal nerve block with 7 mL 2% mepivacaine in each side was administered to the second group (Group P: 56 patients). In both groups, careful maternal-fetal monitoring was conducted, and pain was scored on a numerical scale from 0 to 4, 10 minutes after placement of the block (time [T] 0), at delivery (T1), and at episiorrhaphy (T2). In all patients, we recorded any side effects, the Apgar score at birth and after 5 minutes, the administration of other analgesic and/or sedative drugs, the degree of satisfaction, and the time of hospitalization after delivery. Evaluations were performed by anesthesiologists unaware of patients' treatment group. The duration of spinal analgesia was considered to be the time from injection of study drugs to the time of the patient's first request for additional analgesia. In no cases were there any side effects worthy of note, and hospitalization never exceeded 72 hours. The Apgar score was always between 7 and 10. All except one of the women in Group S were satisfied or more than satisfied with their pain management, whereas 50 women in Group P expressed only moderate satisfaction or dissatisfaction (P < 0.0001). In most patients in Group S, complete analgesia was obtained. In Group P, however, 10 minutes after placement of the pudendal nerve block, 40 patients reported no improvement in pain symptomatology during contractions and only 16 reported less painful contractions (P < 0.0001). The duration of spinal analgesia (128 +/- 38 minutes) was enough in most cases for delivery to be completed. These results suggest that low-dose bupivacaine-fentanyl spinal analgesia represents an important option for pain relief in late labor, not the least because the procedure does not upset the dynamics of delivery or alter vital parameters and is welcomed by women in labor who are still able to collaborate actively in the birth of their baby.

The Effect of Adding a Minidose of Clonidine to Intrathecal Sufentanil for Labor Analgesia

BACKGROUND: Preliminary studies have suggested that the addition of clonidine to intrathecal sufentanil prolongs analgesia without producing motor blockade. METHODS: Fifty-three nulliparous women in painful labor were included in this prospective, randomized, double-blinded study. Parturients at 2- to 5-cm cervical dilation received either 5 microg sufentanil plus 30 microg clonidine or 5 microg sufentanil intrathecally, followed by 5 mg bupivacaine epidurally. The primary outcome was time until first request for additional analgesia. Visual analog pain scores, sensory changes, blood pressure, heart rate, ephedrine requirements, motor blockade, sedation, pruritus, and nausea were also recorded. RESULTS: All parturients but one had effective analgesia in both groups, with similar sensory levels never exceeding T2. The duration (mean +/- SD) of analgesia was longer in the sufentanil-clonidine group: 125+/-46 versus 97+/-30 min (P = 0.007). The incidence of hypotension and the ephedrine requirements (median with range) were higher in the sufentanil-clonidine group: 63% versus 12% (P < 0.001) and 7.5 mg [range, 0-25.5 mg] versus 0 mg [range, 0-6 mg] (P < 0.0001). The incidence of fetal heart rate abnormalities during the first 30 min after intrathecal injection was similar in both groups (17% vs. 19%). No parturient had motor blockade. CONCLUSIONS: The addition of 30 microg clonidine to 5 microg intrathecal sufentanil extended the duration of labor analgesia without producing motor blockade. However, as previously reported with 100-200 microg clonidine, the incidence of hypotension and the ephedrine requirements were also increased, even when 30 microg clonidine only was added.

Ambulatory combined spinal-epidural analgesia for labor: Influence of epinephrine on bupivacaine-sufentanil combination

Subarachnoid sufentanil 5 micrograms during labor is known to have variable results. However, subarachnoid sufentanil 5 micrograms plus bupivacaine 1 mg provides good quality labor analgesia of 100 minutes' average duration. The objective of this study was to examine the effects of adding epinephrine 25 micrograms to this mixture. Forty-two parturients with less than 5 cm cervical dilation participated in this double-blind, randomized study. A combined spinal-epidural technique was used for subarachnoid administration of sufentanil 5 micrograms and bupivacaine 1 mg with or without epinephrine 25 micrograms. Analgesia was assessed by visual analog scores. Time elapsed until first request for additional analgesia, blood pressure, heart rate, sensory levels, motor block, and incidence of pruritus, nausea, and sedation were noted. Addition of epinephrine prolonged the duration of analgesia from 103.8 +/- 28.2 minutes to 142 +/- 54.3 minutes and lowered the median cephalad level of sensory block from T3 to T6. The incidence of side effects was similar in both groups, as was the motor performance; 19 patients were able to ambulate in each group. This minimal bupivacaine-sufentanil-epinephrine mixture allows high-quality analgesia of 142 +/- 54.3 minutes' duration, with a low sensory block level and no motor block. However, hypotension can occur as a late side effect.

Ambulatory Combined Spinal-Epidural Analgesia for Labor: Influence of Epinephrine on Bupivacaine-Sufentanil Combination

Background and ObjectivesSubarachnoid sufentanil 5 μg during labor is known to have variable results. However, subarachnoid sufentanil 5 μg plus bupivacaine 1 mg provides good quality labor analgesia of 100 minutes' average duration. The objective of this study was to examine the effects of adding epinephrine 25 μg to this mixture.MethodsForty-two parturients with less than 5 cm cervical dilation participated in this double-blind, randomized study. A combined spinal-epidural technique was used for subarachnoid administration of sufentanil 5 μg and bupivacaine 1 mg with or without epinephrine 25 μg. Analgesia was assessed by visual analog scores. Time elapsed until first request for additional analgesia, blood pressure, heart rate, sensory levels, motor block, and incidence of pruritus, nausea, and sedation were noted.ResultsAddition of epinephrine prolonged the duration of analgesia from 103.8 ± 28.2 minutes to 142 ± 54.3 minutes and lowered the median cephalad level of sensory block from T3 to T6. The incidence of side effects was similar in both groups, as was the motor performance; 19 patients were able to ambulate in each group.ConclusionsThis minimal bupivacaine-sufentanil-epinephrine mixture allows high-quality analgesia of 142 ± 54.3 minutes' duration, with a low sensory block level and no motor block. However, hypotension can occur as a late side effect.