Oxycodone preemptive analgesia after endoscopic plasma total adenotonsillectomy in children: A randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND: Endoscopic tonsillectomy is associated with postoperative pain. Postoperative pain management remains to be improved in children. We aimed to investigate oxycodone preemptive analgesia in children undergoing endoscopic plasma total adenotonsillectomy. METHODS: 166 children with adenotonsillar hypertrophy were recruited at Wuhan Children's Hospital between 08/2016 and 03/2017. They were randomly assigned to receive SPOA (postoperative sufentanil), SPEA+SPOA (preemptive sufentanil and postoperative sufentanil), and OPEA+SPOA (preemptive oxycodone and postoperative sufentanil). The primary endpoint was serum c-fos levels. The secondary endpoints were the response entropy (RE) value, Pediatric Anesthesia Emergence Delirium (PAED) score, FLACC score, and adverse events. RESULTS: c-fos mRNA levels were increased significantly after surgery in the SPOA and SPEA+SPOA groups (P < .05). Postoperatively, c-fos mRNA levels were higher in the SPOA group compared with the OPEA+SPOA group (P = .044). The RE values increased in all groups after surgery (P < .05). At extubation, RE values were higher in the SPOA group compared with the SPEA+SPOA and OPEA+SPOA groups (P < .05). The PAED scores were higher in the SPOA group compared with the OPEA+SPOA group (P = .045). In the SPOA group, the FLACC scores were decreased at 24 h after surgery vs 4 hours (P = .044). Prediction probability (P(k)) values indicated that RE and c-fos mRNA levels were quantitative predictors for early postoperative stress reaction after surgery. CONCLUSIONS: The subanalgesic dose of oxycodone (0.1 mg/kg) as preemptive analgesia could improve pain after endoscopic plasma total adenotonsillectomy in children.