Surgery, gynecology & obstetrics
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Surg Gynecol Obstet · Oct 1983
The effect of incisional infiltration of bupivacaine hydrochloride upon pulmonary functions, atelectasis and narcotic need following elective cholecystectomy.
Forty randomly selected patients admitted for elective cholecystectomy were entered into the study after they have given informed consent. Arterial blood gas analysis, FVC and FEV1 were measured preoperatively and on the second postoperative day. Preoperatively and on the third postoperative day, roentgenograms of the chest were obtained. ⋯ The hospital stay was 6.6 days for those in the saline solution group and 5.9 days for those in the bupivacaine hydrochloride group (p value, not significant). No complications occurred. Intraoperative infiltration of bupivacaine hydrochloride into the wound improves pulmonary function, reduces the incidence of atelectases and lessens the use of narcotics following cholecystectomy.