Continuous ropivacaine infusion vs transdermal fentanyl for providing postoperative analgesia following temporomandibular joint interpositional gap arthroplasty

AIM: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the postoperative pain control and mouth opening in patients undergoing temporomandibular joint interpositional gap arthroplasty by either placing an epidural catheter in the incision wound and infusing ropivacaine 0.25% or by using a transdermal fentanyl patch. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was prospective, randomized and double blind. Eighty patients belonging to American Society of Anesthesiologists grade I and II, 18–32 years of age, scheduled for temporomandibular joint interpositional gap arthroplasty were randomized into 2 groups; ropivacaine group (G rop): to receive 0.25% ropivacaine infusion and transdermal fentanyl group (G tf): to receive transdermal fentanyl patch. For postoperative pain (Visual Analog Score [VAS]) and analgesic requirements were assessed 2, 4 and 8 h after surgery and each morning, until and 4 days after surgery. RESULTS: Time to first analgesic requirement was found to be significantly (P < 0.0001) higher in G rop (49 ± 6.7) as compared with G tf (32 ± 9.1) VAS were also significantly lower in G rop throughout the postoperative period. Postoperatively, mouth opening was better in G rop as compared with G tf, which was statistically significant. CONCLUSION: It was concluded that by placing an epidural catheter at the incision wound and continuously infusing with ropivacaine 0.25% effectively controls the postoperative pain in patients undergoing temporomandibular joint interpositional gap arthroplasty and provides better postoperative mouth opening.