Acta chirurgica Scandinavica. Supplementum
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This brief review presents an update of studies on postoperative fatigue and convalescence and the way in which they are affected by anesthetic technique. Development of postoperative fatigue is related to the degree of surgical trauma, but not to general anesthesia, and it cannot be predicted from age, sex, duration of surgery, or preoperative assessment of various nutritional parameters. Postoperative fatigue correlates with deterioration in nutritional status and impaired adaptability of heart rate to orthostatic stress and bicycle exercise. ⋯ Pain relief with regional anesthetics does not improve postoperative fatigue after abdominal surgery; however, no studies are available that evaluate the effects of regional analgesia with concomitant inhibition of the stress response. Controlled studies suggest that the use of regional anesthesia with local anesthetics reduces duration of hospitalization and time to ambulation. Further studies are needed to define the relative roles of immobilization, impaired nutritional intake, and surgical stress response in the pathogenesis of postoperative fatigue.
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Postoperative pulmonary complications are not uncommon, and the factors that contribute to lung dysfunction are well documented. Postoperative pain, spasm, and paralysis are all known to reduce lung function, although relief of pain does not completely restore function. Rather, diaphragmatic dysfunction has been found to persist even with adequate pain relief. ⋯ Muscle paralysis can also create or contribute to atelectasis. Microthromboembolism impedes perfusion distribution, adding to the other causes of a ventilation-perfusion mismatch. Different anesthetic techniques and intraoperative management may help prevent or reduce the incidence of postoperative lung complications.
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Gastrointestinal motility is normally inhibited for 2-3 days after abdominal surgery. The methods used for postoperative pain relief may themselves also influence gastrointestinal function. ⋯ Clinical studies show that epidural anesthesia does not delay gastric emptying or prolong intestinal transit time as much as parenteral and epidural opioids. Therefore, for postoperative pain relief after abdominal surgery, epidural anesthesia with local anesthetics seems the best alternative to avoid or minimize adverse effects on gastric emptying and intestinal motility.
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In recent years hospitals have begun to institute special postoperative pain services staffed by anesthesia department personnel. The charter for such services is to provide the best and most appropriate postoperative analgesia for surgical patients, in particular for the increasing numbers of patients who, released from hospital soon after surgery, still require pain relief on an outpatient basis. This review focuses on the relative benefits and risks of the currently available options for postoperative pain relief: intramuscular (i.m.) and intravenous (i.v.) administration of narcotics; epidural or subarachnoid administration of narcotics and/or local anesthetics; and peripheral nerve blocks with local anesthetics. In terms of efficacy, cost, risk, and personnel requirements, the particular advantages of continuous analgesia techniques--including patient-controlled analgesia--are discussed.
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Acta Chir Scand Suppl · Jan 1989
ReviewThe stress response to surgery: release mechanisms and the modifying effect of pain relief.
This short review updates information on the release mechanisms of the systemic response to surgical injury and the modifying effect of pain relief. Initiation of the response is primarily due to afferent nerve impulses combined with release of humoral substances (such as prostaglandins, kinins, leukotrienes, interleukin-1, and tumor necrosis factor), while amplification factors include semi-starvation, infection, and hemorrhage. The relative role of the various signals in producing the complex injury response has not been finally determined, but the neural pathway is probably most important in releasing the classical endocrine catabolic response, while humoral factors are important for the hyperthermic response, changes in coagulation and fibrinolysis immunofunction, and capillary permeability. ⋯ Systemic opiate administration, as well as non-steroidal antiinflammatory drugs, exert only a small modifying effect on the response. Low-dose combined analgesic regimens may provide total pain relief, but exert no important effect on the stress response. In summary, pain alleviation itself may not necessarily lead to an important modification of the stress response, and a combined approach with inhibition of the neural and humoral release mechanisms is necessary for a pronounced inhibition or prevention of the response to surgical injury.