Elastomeric Pain Pumps for Scoliosis Surgery

Objective Postoperative pain management following scoliosis surgery has traditionally relied on intravenous opioids. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of elastomeric pain pumps. Methods A retrospective chart review of 81 adolescent patients who underwent scoliosis surgery in a seven-year period was performed. Patients were divided into three groups as the practice changed: (1) patient-controlled analgesia group (12 patients) who used intravenous (IV) opioids with oral opioids; (2) elastomeric pain pump group (28 patients) with the added use of bupivacaine; and (3) multimodal pain pump group (41 patients) with the added use of gabapentin and methocarbamol. Endpoints were analyzed for length of stay in the hospital, infection rate, and gastrointestinal retention. Results The length of stay in the elastomeric pain pump group was 3.1 days shorter than in the patient-controlled analgesia group (P = 0.004). The length of stay in the multimodal group was 3.9 days shorter than in the patient-controlled analgesia group (P = 0.001). The incidence of prolonged postoperative bowel retention decreased significantly from 25% to 18% to 2% (P = 0.03). Conclusions To our knowledge, this is the first study on the use of elastomeric pain pumps in conjunction with multimodal pain medication following scoliosis surgery. The use of elastomeric pain pumps was associated with clinically and statistically significant improvements in the postoperative course. The addition of methocarbamol and gabapentin was associated with a trend toward further improvements.