The comparative study of epidural levobupivacaine and bupivacaine in major abdominal surgeries

BACKGROUND: Opioid and local anesthetic infusion by an epidural catheter is widely used as a postoperative pain management method after major abdominal surgeries. There are several agents nowadays to provide sufficient analgesia. The agents which cause less side effects but better quality of analgesia are more valuable. We aimed to postoperatively compare the analgesic, hemodynamic and arrhythmogenic effects of epidural levobupivacaine-fentanyl and bupivacaine-fentanyl solutions. METHODS: Fifty patients were scheduled to undergo major abdominal surgery in this clinical trial. The parameters were recorded pre- and post-operatively. In Group I (n=25), bupivacaine with fentanyl solution and in Group II (n=25), levobupivacaine with fentanyl solution was infused via epidural patient-controlled analgesia (PCA). According to the preoperative and postoperative holter recording reports, the arrhythmogenic effects were examined in four catagories: ventricular arrhythmia (VA), supraventricular arrhythmia (SVA), atrioventricular conduction abnormalities and pauses longer than two seconds. RESULTS: Mean visual analog scale (VAS) values of groups did not differ at all time. They were 6 at the end of the surgery (0. Min, p = 0.622). The scores were 5 in Group I and 4 in Group II in 30. min (p = 0.301). The frequency of SVA was higher in bupivacaine group. CONCLUSIONS: The results of our study suggest that same concentration of epidural levobupivacaine and bupivacaine with fentanyl provide stable postoperative analgesia and both were found safe for the patients undergoing major abdominal surgery.