This survey addresses the structure and function of the acute pain services (APS) in the UK 10 years after its initial commencement. APS is now available in many hospitals (89.4%). The APS team consists mainly of anaesthetists, occasionally includes nurses and pharmacists, and rarely physiotherapists and psychologists. Anaesthetists, mainly, cover the out-of-hours service and nurses only occasi...

Despite the increase in surgical volumes of live liver donation, there has been very little documentation of the postoperative pain experience. The primary aim of this study was to examine the difference in acute postoperative pain intensity and adverse effects between patients who received intravenous patient-controlled analgesia (IV PCA) or patient-controlled epidural analgesia (PCEA) for pai...

BACKGROUND Surgery for bone malignancy is associated with intense postoperative pain. Patient-controlled epidural analgesia (PCEA) and intravenous patient-controlled analgesia (IV-PCA) are used currently for postoperative pain control. METHODS The degree of pain control after resection of bone malignancy under combined general and epidural anesthesia followed postoperatively by prospectively ...

BACKGROUND AND AIM OF THE WORK To evaluate the efficacy in terms of pain relief and degree of motor impairment of a continuous epidural infusion of 0.125% levobupivacaine in patients undergoing total knee replacement surgery. METHODS 186 patients receiving effective epidural analgesia with 0.125% levobupivacaine during the first 24 hours after surgery were randomly allocated to receive postop...

In this retrospective study, data of 2,435 patients who received fentanyl and ropivacaine-based patient-controlled epidural analgesia (PCEA) for pain relief after elective surgery under general or spinal anesthesia were reviewed. Differences in postoperative pain, incidence of patient-controlled analgesia (PCA)-related adverse effects, and risk factors for the need for rescue analgesics for 48 ...

OBJECTIVE To study the awakening of the elderly patients from propofol intravenous general anesthesia or sevoflurane inhalation general anesthesia combined with epidural block after radical gastric cancer surgery. METHOD Eighty cases receiving selective radical surgery for gastric cancer were included. They were aged 65-78 years and classified as ASA grade I-II. Using a random number table, t...

The quality of analgesia, patient satisfaction and incidence of side effects following a single bolus of epidural morphine were compared with patient-controlled epidural analgesia (PCEA) with meperidine during the first 24 hr after elective Caesarean section. Seventy-five women were randomly assigned to three equal groups. Group I received 30 mg epidural meperidine after delivery and PCEA with ...

BACKGROUND Ropivacaine, and to a lesser extent also levobupivacaine, is commonly used for postoperative epidural analgesia. Despite ED50 data suggesting a potency difference between these drugs, clinically they can be difficult to distinguish. As a consequence, it is unclear which concentration of each drug to use when comparing them for long-term analgesia. METHODS One hundred patients under...

BACKGROUND This prospective, randomized, double-blind study was designed to evaluate the preemptive and preventive analgesic efficacy of adding magnesium to a multimodal regimen of patient-controlled epidural analgesia (PCEA) in patients undergoing abdominal hysterectomy. METHODS Ninety patients were randomly assigned to one of the three groups. Pre-magnesium patients received bolus of magnes...