Bupivacaine application reduces post thyroidectomy pain: Cerrahpasa experience.
BACKGROUND
We aimed to evaluate the impact of bupivacaine administration into the surgical field after total thyroidectomy on post-operative pain and analgesic requirement with a double-blind, prospective, clinical and randomized study.


METHODS
The study was performed between 2010 and 2011. Pain assessment was performed with the visual analog score (VAS). Patients were pre-operatively, randomly divided into two groups to receive either bupivacaine or saline. One group received a 10-mL of bupivacaine solution while the other group was treated with the same volume of 0.9% NaCl through the drain after completion of total thyroidectomy procedure. All patients were anesthetized and operated with the same anesthesia and surgical team.


RESULTS
Ninety-one patients (20 males) were included in the study. No patient dropped out of the study during the procedures. No mortality was seen. The VAS scores were significantly lower in the bupivacaine administered group at post-operative minute 30 (3.7±3.2vs. 5±2.9; P=0.03), hour one (3.04±2.4vs. 4.2±2.8; P=0.04), and hour eight (1.8±2.04vs. 3.2±2.1; P=0.005). Thirteen patients required analgesia during their hospital stay in the bupivacaine group while this number was twenty-two in the saline group (P=0.005).


CONCLUSIONS
Local bupivacaine administration into the surgical field after total thyroidectomy reduces pain and analgesic requirement during the hospital stay.
Department of General Surgery, Cerrahpasa Medical Faculty, Istanbul University, Fatih, Istanbul, Turkey.
Serkan
S
Teksoz
Department of General Surgery, Cerrahpasa Medical Faculty, Istanbul University, Fatih, Istanbul, Turkey.
Akif Enes
AE
Arikan
Department of General Surgery, Cerrahpasa Medical Faculty, Istanbul University, Fatih, Istanbul, Turkey.
Selen
S
Soylu
Department of Anesthesiology, Cerrahpasa Medical Faculty, Istanbul University, Fatih, Istanbul, Turkey.
Safak Emre
SE
Erbabacan
Department of General Surgery, Cerrahpasa Medical Faculty, Istanbul University, Fatih, Istanbul, Turkey.
Murat
M
Ozcan
Department of General Surgery, Cerrahpasa Medical Faculty, Istanbul University, Fatih, Istanbul, Turkey.
Yusuf
Y
Bukey
Analgesic; bupivacaine; pain management; thyroidectomy