Comparison of ropivacaine, ropivacaine plus tramadol and ropivacaine plus morphine in patients undergoing minor hand surgery

Cukurova University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology, Adana, Turkey.
In our study we aimed to compare the effects of ropivacaine alone, ropivacaine plus tramadol HCl, and ropivacaine plus morphine HCl used as intravenous regional anesthesia (IVRA), on duration to the initiation of analgesia, total analgesia time, analgesic requirement, sedation levels and hemodynamic parameters. 53 patients undergoing minor hand surgery were included into the study. Patients were randomly divided into three groups to receive 40 ml of ropivacaine 0.2 % (Group R, n=18), ropivacaine 0.2 % plus 1 mg/kg tramadol HCl (Group RT, n=18), and ropivacaine 0.2 % plus 0.1 mg/kg morphine HCl (Group RM, n=17) as IVRA. Following the injection, the durations for the initiation of analgesia were recorded. Levels of sedation, analgesia (VAS) and hemodynamic parameters were recorded in 5 minute intervals throughout first 35 minutes intraoperatively and at 1, 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, 45 and 60th minutes postoperatively. Patients were asked about the initiation of pain and requirements of analgesic at the first postoperative day. The duration to the initiation of analgesia was similar between the groups. Total analgesia time was found to be 304.0 +/- 317.6 min in Group R, 327.0 +/- 316.5 min in Group RT, and 635.9 +/- 492.3 min in Group RM. The difference between Group R and RM was statistically significant (p<0.05). Analgesic requirements were similar between the groups (p>0.05). Mild local anesthetic toxicity was observed in Group RM in two patients. We conclude that, when used as IVRA, ropivacaine alone or with tramadol or morphine produced similar analgesia and surgery conditions, and ropivacaine plus morphine had more adverse effects besides its longer duration of analgesia.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=15977096&query_hl=1

Preemptive oral rofecoxib plus postoperative intraarticular bupivacaine for pain relief after arthroscopic knee surgery.

Trakya University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology, Edirne, Turkey. beykar@mynet.com.
This study was designed to test the hypothesis whether preemptive administration of rofecoxib, a novel selective COX-2 inhibitor, can prolong intraarticular bupivacaine analgesia after arthroscopic knee surgery. Sixty-two patients were randomly assigned to one of the three groups. Group 1 (n=21) was administered oral rofecoxib 50 mg 1 h before surgery plus intraarticular 0.5 % bupivacaine 20 ml postoperatively. Group 2 (n=21) was administered the same dose of bupivacaine. Group 3 (n=20) was administered saline 20 ml intraarticularly after surgery. Pain scores (VAS) were assessed at 30 min, 1, 2, 4, 6, 12 and 24 h postoperatively. Analgesia duration, analgesic (tramadol and tenoxicam) requirements, and adverse effects were recorded postoperatively for 24 h. Pain scores were significantly lower in the Group 1 at all time points (p<0.05, p<0.001) and were significantly lower in the Group 2 at 30 min (p<0.001), 1 and 4 h (p<0.05) compared to the Group 3. Pain scores were significantly lower in the Group 1 compared to the Group 2 during the first 4 h after surgery (p<0.05, p<0.001). Analgesia duration was longer in Group 1 than Group 2 or 3 (743.0 +/- 480.5 min versus 262.4 +/- 292.2 min and 17.0 +/- 12.1 min; p<0.05, p<0.001 respectively), and in Group 2 than Group 3 (p<0.05). Tramadol requirements were significantly less in Group 1 than Group 2 and 3 (4.8 +/- 15.0 mg versus 40.5 +/- 43.6 mg and 67.5 +/- 24.5 mg; p<0.05, p<0.001 respectively), and in Group 2 than Group 3 (p<0.05). There were no significant differences among the groups regarding the tenoxicam requirements and adverse effects. In conclusion, the combination of oral rofecoxib administered preemptively and intraarticular bupivacaine administered postoperatively provided a significant analgesic benefit and decreased the opioid requirements after arthroscopic knee surgery, when compared to bupivacaine alone or saline.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=15977092&query_hl=1