Efficacy of Postoperative Continuous Wound Infiltration With Local Anesthesia After Open Hepatectomy

OBJECTIVES: Local anesthetic wound infiltration is widely used as an effective adjunct during multimodal postoperative pain management. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of continuous wound infusion of ropivacaine in postoperative pain relief, opioid sparing, incidence of nausea and vomiting, and bowel and liver function improvement in patients undergoing open hepatectomy. METHODS: Forty patients undergoing open hepatectomy were enrolled in this prospective, randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial. Patients were divided into 2 groups: the 0.9% saline continuous infusion group (the control group; n=20) and the ropivacaine continuous infusion group (the Ropi group; n=20). Outcomes measured postoperatively were pain score at rest and on movement, sufentanil consumption, incidence of nausea and vomiting, and sedation score across 48 postoperative hours. Time to bowel recovery, liver function change, mean length of hospitalization, patient satisfaction, and other data after 48 postoperative hours were collected until hospital discharge. RESULTS: Pain scores at rest were lower for the ropivacaine group and reached significance after 8 and 16 hours (P<0.01). Sufentanil consumption (41.50±21.80 vs. 89.70±35.22 μg; P<0.01) after 48 hours, time to bowel recovery (1.80±0.70 vs. 3.15±1.04 d; P<0.01), incidence of nausea and vomiting (1.75±0.72 vs. 2.40±0.68; P<0.05), and mean length of hospitalization (5.6±2.44 vs. 7.35±2.85 d; P<0.01) were significantly reduced, and the sedation score and liver function change were also comparable between the 2 groups. There was no difference with respect to pain scores on movement, nor with respect to patient satisfaction. CONCLUSIONS: Surgical wound infusion with ropivacaine after hepatectomy can improve pain relief at rest and accelerate recovery and discharge.