Acute Pain and Analgesic Requirements After Pulmonary Endarterectomy With Deep Hypothermic Circulatory Arrest.

OBJECTIVES: To assess postoperative pain intensity and the analgesic requirements in the postoperative period in patients undergoing sternotomy for pulmonary endarterectomy involving deep hypothermic circulatory arrest. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: Single-center hospital study. PARTICIPANTS: Patients 18 years and older undergoing sternotomy for cardiac surgery between August 2012 and August 2014. INTERVENTIONS: No modification to usual clinical practice. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Intraoperative opioid and steroid administration, referral to the chronic pain unit, intensive care unit pain scores, and analgesic administration in the first 48 hours after the admission to the intensive care unit were recorded. Postoperative pain was evaluated by means of a categoric verbal scale from no pain (0) to severe pain (3); this is the routine analgesic scale used in the authors' intensive care unit. A total of 200 consecutive patients undergoing pulmonary endarterectomy (PEA group) were included in the study. No patient in the PEA group received morphine during surgery. The mean (standard deviation) postoperative pain intensity score at 24 hours was 0.30 (0.54) in the PEA group. Postoperative morphine was administered in 39% of patients. No PEA patient was referred to the chronic pain unit after hospital discharge. CONCLUSION: The total analgesic requirements and pain score of patients undergoing sternotomy for pulmonary endarterectomy with deep hypothermic circulatory arrest seemed to be low.

Impact of surgical technique and analgesia on clinical outcomes after lung transplantation: A STROBE-compliant cohort study.

There is paucity of data on the impact of surgical incision and analgesia on relevant outcomes.A retrospective STROBE-compliant cohort study was performed between July 2007 and August 2017 of patients undergoing lung transplantation. Gender, age, indication for lung transplantation, and the 3 types of surgical access (Thoracotomy (T), Sternotomy (S), and Clamshell (C)) were used, as well as 2 analgesic techniques: epidural and intravenous opioids. Outcome variables were: pain scores; postoperative hemorrhage in the first 24 hours, duration of mechanical ventilation, and length of stay at intensive care unit (ICU).Three hundred forty-one patients were identified. Thoracotomy was associated with higher pain scores than Sternotomy (OR 1.66, 95% CI: 1.01; 2.74, P: .045) and no differences were found between Clamshell and Sternotomy incision. The median blood loss was 800 mL [interquartile range (IQR): 500; 1238], thoracotomy patients had 500 mL [325; 818] (P < .001). Median durations of mechanical ventilation in Thoracotomy, Sternotomy, and Clamshell groups were 19 [11; 37] hours, 34 [IQR 16; 57.5] hours, and 27 [IQR 15; 50.5] hours respectively. Thoracotomy group were discharged earlier from ICU (P < .001).Thoracotomy access produces less postoperative hemorrhage, duration of mechanical ventilation, and lower length of stay in ICU, but higher pain scores and need for epidural analgesia.