Title: Low dose fentanyl improves continuous bupivacaine epidural analgesia following orthopaedic, urological or general surgery
Abstract: This retrospective study assessed the clinical efficacy of the addition of low concentrations of fentanyl to bupivacaine 0.125% when infused epidurally for postoperative analgesia. Three patient groups received bupivacaine 0.125% alone (n=70), bupivacaine 0.125% with 1 μg/ml fentanyl (n=100), and bupivacaine 0.125% with 2 μg/ml fentanyl (n=70). The percentage of patients with adequate analgesia (pain score ≤3) was higher in both fentanyl groups compared to the plain bupivacaine group on each of the three study days (p<0.05). Those receiving plain bupivacaine had a greater incidence of patchy or unilateral blocks compared to both fentanyl groups (p<0.05). The higher dose of fentanyl was associated with a greatly increased length of stable analgesia (p<0.01). Patient satisfaction scores were highest in the 2 μg/ml fentanyl group and lowest in the plain bupivacaine group, with significant differences between all groups (p<0.01). The incidence of nausea was significantly greater in the plain bupivacaine group compared to both fentanyl groups (p<0.001); other side effects were similar between the groups. We conclude that the addition of fentanyl 1–2 μg/ml to bupivacaine 0.125% for continuous epidural infusion significantly improved all indicators of analgesic quality, without an attendant increase in side effects in a routine clinical setting and is therefore to be recommended.
Publication Year: 1997
Publication Date: 1997-12-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 5
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