Sufentanil Sublingual Tablet System vs. Intravenous Patient-Controlled Analgesia with Morphine: Postoperative Pain Control and Its Impact in Quality of Recovery

Context: Patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) is commonly used for postoperative pain control. Although widely used, intravenous (IV) morphine PCA may not be suitable for all patients. Sufentanil sublingual tablet system (SSTS) PCA is a recent technique that has had success as a safe and effective alternative for acute pain management. Aims: This study aims to compare both the efficacy and safety of SSTS PCA versus IV morphine PCA in postoperative pain control and the quality of recovery in adult patients following scheduled gynecological or orthopedic surgery. Settings and design: Open-label, parallel-group, randomized controlled trial with 54 patients. The primary outcome was postoperative pain control, while the secondary outcomes included adverse effects associated with two analgesic modalities, total opioid dose required, patient satisfaction, and impact on the quality of postoperative recovery. Methods and material: Statistical analysis was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 26.0 (Released 2019; IBM Corp., Armonk, New York, United States). The chi-squared test was used in categorical variables. When distribution was normal, T-student (mean ± standard deviation) was used in continuous variables. In contrast, when distribution was not normal, the Mann-Whitney test (median (minimal-maximal)) was used. Results: The results showed that there was a statistically significant difference in the total dose of opioid used by patients at 24 hours postoperatively, with patients receiving SSTS PCA requiring a higher total dose when compared to those receiving IV morphine PCA. However, there were no statistically significant differences in pain scores, adverse events, or patient satisfaction. Conclusions: The study suggests that both IV morphine and sublingual sufentanil are safe and effective for postoperative pain management.