Preincisional dextromethorphan combined with thoracic epidural anesthesia and analgesia improves postoperative pain and bowel function in patients undergoing colonic surgery.
Colonic surgery is associated with severe postoperative pain and postoperative ileus, which contribute to delayed hospital discharge. In previous studies, we demonstrated that IM dextromethorphan (DM) provided preemptive analgesia and improved postoperative pain. The benefit of thoracic epidural anesthesia (TEA) and postoperative epidural analgesia on postoperative pain was well demonstrated. The goal of this study was to investigate the effect of preincisional IM DM combined with intraoperative TEA and postoperative patient-controlled epidural analgesia (PCEA) on pain and bowel function after colonic surgery. Patients were randomized into 3 equal groups to receive: 1) chlorpheniramine maleate (CPM) 20 mg and general anesthesia (CPM-GA); 2) CPM 20 mg and GA combined with TEA (CPM-TEA); or 3) DM 40 mg (containing 20 mg of CPM) and GA combined with TEA (DM-TEA). The CPM, DM, and TEA with lidocaine were administered after GA induction via an IM injection and 30 min before the skin incision. All patients received postoperative PCEA for pain control. Analgesic effects were evaluated for 72 h after surgery using visual analog scale pain scores at rest and moving, time to first PCEA request for pain relief, total PCEA consumption, and the time to first passage of flatus. Statistically significant improvement of postoperative pain and bowel function was observed in the following order: DM-TEA > CPM-TEA > CPM-GA. Compared with the CPM-TEA group, the DM-TEA group averaged 1.6 points lower on first-hour pain scores, 40 min longer to first PCEA request, 15.8 mL less PCEA drug over 72 h, and 14.7 h earlier bowel function (all P < 0.01). We conclude that the combination of preincisional DM (40 mg IM), intraoperative TEA, and postoperative PCEA enhances analgesia and facilitates recovery of bowel function, suggesting possible synergistic interaction with local anesthetics and opioids.
Yeh
Chun-Chang
CC
Departments of *Anesthesiology and †Surgery, Tri-Service General Hospital, and National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; and ‡Department of Anesthesiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina.
Jao
Shu-Wen
SW
Huh
Billy K
BK
Wong
Chih-Shung
CS
Yang
Chih-Ping
CP
White
William D
WD
Wu
Ching-Tang
CT
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015360:Analgesia, Epidural; D016058:Analgesia, Patient-Controlled; D000701:Analgesics, Opioid / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000767:Anesthesia, Epidural; D003106:Colon / Q000601:surgery*; D003915:Dextromethorphan / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010149:Postoperative Pain / Q000188:drug therapy*
D000701:Analgesics, Opioid; D003915:Dextromethorphan