Journal of opioid management
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Clinical Trial
Electronically monitored single-use patient-controlled analgesia pumps in postoperative pain control.
The present study was performed to establish whether analgesic consumption in the first four postoperative hours is a suitable basis for selecting the demand dose and predicting the likely analgesic requirement over the next 20 hours with single-use patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) pumps, and to establish whether this method provides effective pain control. Forty-two patients who had undergone a laparotic gynecological procedure (hysterectomy) were given an electronic PCA pump (Abbott Lifecare, Abbott Laboratories, Abbott Park, IL) for four hours (phase I) with a demand dose of 1 mg piritramide and a lockout period of five minutes for dose titration. Piritramide's potency is comparable with that of morphine. ⋯ Two different dose regimes were applied using a high and a low bolus size in the following 20 hours. We concluded that effective pain control without respiratory depression was achieved with single-use PCA pumps. Opioid consumption varied significantly, whereas pain levels did not.