Postoperative pain management in patients undergoing major surgery after remifentanil vs. fentanyl anesthesia. Multicentre Investigator Group.

PURPOSE: To determine if morphine sulphate was an effective transition analgesic in patients receiving a remifentanil-based anesthetic regimen. METHODS: Open-label remifentanil or fentanyl was administered to 210 randomized patients undergoing inpatient surgery. Isoflurane and nitrous oxide was administered to all patients. Thirty minutes before the end of surgery, patients receiving remifentanil were randomized to receive morphine 0.15 mg x kg(-1) (R/M15 group) or 0.20 mg x kg(-1) (R/M20 group). Following extubation and prior to patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) initiation, 2 mg boluses of morphine were administered for moderate/severe pain. Efficacy endpoints were total morphine used in the post anesthesia care unit (PACU) and 24 and 48 hr postoperatively; postoperative pain; time to first morphine bolus; time to first PCA administration; and time to recovery endpoints. RESULTS: Mean total morphine used in PACU was not different among groups (15.5 mg, 16.5 mg and 13.3 mg in R/M 15, R/M20 and F groups, respectively). Mean total 24 hr morphine use (58.1 mg, 56.93 mg and 53.6 mg in R/M15, R/M20 and F groups) and mean total morphine used at 48 hr were not different (69.8 mg, 64.7 mg and 62.1 mg in R/M15, R/M20 and F/I groups). Groups were similar with respect to pain severity ratings at all postoperative times. Patients in the fentanyl arm experienced faster times to some recovery endpoints than patients receiving either remifentanil regimen. CONCLUSION: Morphine sulphate regimens of 0.15 or 0.20 mg x kg(-1) administered 30 min before the end of surgery are equally effective transition regimens for inpatient procedures.

Introducing a patient-controlled analgesia-based acute pain relief service into southern Africa--the first 10 months.

The 10 months after the introduction of the first acute pain relief service (APRS) in southern Africa is described. Seven hundred patients were treated with morphine by means of patient-controlled analgesia (PCA), administered to patients after major surgery or extensive burns via the intravenous (IV) or subcutaneous (SC) route. The efficacy, safety and resource implications were assessed. The results showed that pain control was good, with the majority of patients (66%) experiencing mild pain during the first 24 hours. The pump was used by each patient for an average of 4.32 days. The mean total dose of morphine used was 105.2 mg via the IV route and 114.6 mg via the SC route. Over the 10 months, the 25 PCA pumps worked 80,000 pump-hours; only 3 pumps malfunctioned. A total of 86,861 mg morphine was used during this period with rare morbidity and no mortality. Only 1 patient experienced sedation and respiratory depression. The benefits of an APRS with PCA to patients and medical staff alike are discussed.

Patient-controlled analgesia. Its South African debut in a provincial hospital.

Patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) is a well-established technique for the relief of acute and chronic pain. It is widely used in Western hospitals. Patient and staff education is required to provide successful analgesia. This paper reports the successful introduction of PCA on a large scale in a provincial hospital. The considerable potential difficulties in communication and education appear to have been overcome. The widespread introduction of PCA in all our hospitals would appear to be feasible.