Patient-controlled analgesia and prolonged ileus after uncomplicated colectomy.

BACKGROUND: Because the duration of postoperative ileus after uncomplicated colon surgery has increased at our institution in the past 4 years, thereby prolonging length of hospital stay for some patients, we assessed several clinical factors to determine which were responsible for the increase. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We retrospectively studied a cohort of 358 patients who underwent uncomplicated colon resection to investigate risk factors for prolonged postoperative ileus. Postoperatively, all patients received an analgesic agent, delivered either intramuscularly (IM) or by patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) pump, until their postoperative ileus resolved, as indicated by the passage of flatus and tolerance of a clear liquid diet. RESULTS: There was no significant relationship between the length of postoperative ileus patient age or gender, the operating time, or the type or amount of analgesic agent used postoperatively. A significantly larger proportion of the patients who received PCA than those given an IM agent had ileus at 7, 6, and 5 days after surgery (P < 0.0001 for all comparisons after controlling for confounding factors), however. Overall, the use of PCA was associated with a delay in return of normal bowel function of 0.9 days. Patients who underwent a right colectomy had a significantly shorter ileus than those who had other procedures. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that the use of PCA after uncomplicated colectomy increases the risk of prolonged postoperative ileus. We suggest that the routine use of PCA after colon surgery be reevaluated.

Patient-controlled analgesia and postoperative urinary retention after hysterectomy for benign disease.

BACKGROUND: Because postoperative urinary retention can result in considerable morbidity and the rate of retention after hysterectomy has recently increased at our institutions, we conducted a study to determine risk factors for the disorder. STUDY DESIGN: A cohort of 366 consecutive patients who had undergone uncomplicated abdominal or vaginal hysterectomy for benign disease and who met strict inclusion criteria were studied retrospectively by means of a review of their medical records. Student's t test and multivariate logistic regression analysis were used to assess the effects of operative time, amount of fluid given perioperatively, type and amount of analgesic agent administered postoperatively, age of the patient, performance of a vaginal versus an abdominal hysterectomy, and the postoperative use of patient-controlled analgesia on the rate of postoperative urinary retention in these patients. RESULTS: After adjustment for confounding factors, only the use of patient-controlled analgesia (p = 0.0001) and vaginal hysterectomy (p = 0.0003) were significantly related to postoperative urinary retention. Patients who used patient-controlled analgesia were 5.7 times (95 percent confidence interval, 2.6 to 12.4) more likely to have urinary retention than those given an intramuscular agent. CONCLUSIONS: Urinary retention after hysterectomy might be avoided by administering analgesic agents intramuscularly or inserting a suprapubic cystostomy catheter postoperatively, especially in patients who have undergone a vaginal procedure.

Clinical presentation of chronic anal fissures.

Chronic anal fissures have a varied and often confusing clinical presentation. To clarify this picture, we retrospectively studied 172 patients to determine associations between patient characteristics and manifestations of these lesions. We found that anterior fissures and sentinel piles were significantly more common in women; pruritus and rectal drainage occurred significantly more often in men; and patients with a longer duration of symptoms and those with pruritus and drainage were more likely to have a fistula. Younger patients were more likely to report rectal bleeding. Patients with chronic anal pruritus or an anal abscess should be carefully evaluated for an anal fistula, since anorectal problems may recur if a fistula remains untreated.

Patient-controlled analgesia and postoperative urinary retention after open appendectomy.

We retrospectively studied 279 patients who had undergone uncomplicated open appendectomy for acute appendicitis to determine risk factors for postoperative urinary retention. The gender of the patients, the operating time and the amount of fluid given perioperatively had no influence on the occurrence of retention. The amount of analgesic agent administered postoperatively and the age of the patient were significantly associated with urinary retention (p = 0.01 and p < 0.0001, respectively, after adjustment for potential confounding factors). The use of meperidine hydrochloride as compared with morphine and of patient-controlled analgesia as compared with intramuscular delivery were initially found to be significantly related to retention (p = 0.014 and p < 0.0001, respectively). After the effects of the age of the patient, the drug type and the amount of fluid and analgesic agent administered were controlled for, patient-controlled analgesia remained significantly associated with retention (p < 0.0001), whereas the type of drug given was no longer significant after controlling for potential confounding factors. Because we found that urinary retention was 13 times more likely to occur in the patients who had patient-controlled analgesia, we recommend that the use of this form of analgesia delivery be avoided after open appendectomy.

Factors influencing urinary tract retention after elective open cholecystectomy.

We studied a retrospective cohort of 360 consecutive patients who had undergone elective cholecystectomy using general endotracheal anesthesia to determine risk factors associated with postoperative retention of the urinary tract. Male gender, increased age, a longer operating time and higher total doses of analgesic agents given postoperatively were each significantly associated with an increase in urinary tract retention. The use of postoperative intravenous patient controlled analgesia was associated with increased retention after controlling for other risk factors. Physicians should consider inserting a Foley catheter preoperatively in patients undergoing a cholecystectomy who are scheduled to receive postoperative patient controlled analgesia.

Factors influencing postoperative urinary retention in patients undergoing elective inguinal herniorrhaphy.

We retrospectively studied 295 men who had undergone herniorrhaphy under spinal or general endotracheal anesthesia to determine the incidence of postoperative urinary retention and to assess factors influencing it. The type and location of hernia had no effect on retention. In contrast, the use of general anesthesia, patient age above 53 years, and perioperative administration of more than 1,200 mL of fluid were significantly associated with an increase in retention. Our results suggest that urinary retention after herniorrhaphy may be prevented by limiting the amount of fluid given perioperatively and by using a spinal anesthetic, especially in older patients.

Disseminated, nonmeningeal gastrointestinal cryptococcal infection in an HIV-negative patient.

Gastrointestinal cryptococcosis is extremely rare, especially in patients with no involvement of the central nervous system. We describe a 63-yr-old man undergoing prednisone therapy for chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis who presented with peritonitis, colitis, and skin lesions. Pathological studies revealed necrosis and numerous cryptococcal organisms in the colon, omentum, and skin, and cultures yielded Cryptococcus neoformans. The patient died of multisystem organ failure following emergency exploratory surgery performed when he had onset of symptoms of a bowel perforation after an endoscopic biopsy. Clinicians should be aware that gastrointestinal cryptococcosis can occur in the absence of infection of the central nervous system or lungs, and that it may affect relatively healthy patients who are immunocompromised because of splenectomy, chronic liver disease, or steroid therapy.