[The effect of intravenous patient controlled analgesia on activities of daily life and medical expense after thoracotomy].
We investigated the efficacy of postoperative intravenous patient controlled analgesia (i.v.-PCA) combined with continuous epidural analgesia (CEA) after thoracotomy. One hundred and eight patients receiving postoperative CEA were randomly divided into two groups; the i.v.-PCA (+) group who received i.v.-PCA combined with CEA and the i.v.-PCA (-) group who did not receive i.v.-PCA. Pain score (100 mm visual analogue scale; VAS) at 24 h and 48 h, postoperative complications, activities of daily life (ADL), the length of hospital stay and medical expense were compared. The length of hospital stay and medical expense were not significantly different between the two groups. The i.v.-PCA (+) group could recover ADL more quickly and had better analgesic state compared with the i.v.-PCA (-) group. The incidence of postoperative complications was lower in the i.v.-PCA (+) group compared with the i.v.-PCA (-) group. It was concluded that the i.v.-PCA combined with CEA had the desirable effects on postoperative analgesia and recovery of postoperative ADL.
Satoh
M
M
Department of Anesthesiology, Miyagi Prefectural Semine Hospital, Miyagi 989-4501.
Hirabayashi
Y
Y
Inoue
S
S
Seo
N
N
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D015360:Analgesia, Epidural; D016058:Analgesia, Patient-Controlled / Q000191:economics; D002047:Buprenorphine / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005260:Female; D005283:Fentanyl / Q000008:administration & dosage; D006801:Humans; D007262:Infusions, Intravenous; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010149:Postoperative Pain / Q000628:therapy*; D011182:Postoperative Care / Q000191:economics; D013908:Thoracotomy
D002047:Buprenorphine; D005283:Fentanyl