Liver transplantation : official publication of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases and the International Liver Transplantation Society
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Prospective, randomized study of ropivacaine wound infusion versus intrathecal morphine with intravenous fentanyl for analgesia in living donors for liver transplantation.
Postoperative analgesia and care for living liver donors have become particular interests for clinicians as the use of living donor liver transplantation has increased. Local anesthetic-based analgesia has been known to provide effective pain control. In this prospective, randomized study, we compared the postoperative analgesic efficacy of local anesthetic-based analgesia (PainBuster) with the efficacy of opioid-based analgesia [intrathecal morphine (ITM) with intravenous (IV) fentanyl] in liver donors. ⋯ There were no differences in side effects. In conclusion, analgesia was more satisfactory with ITM/IV fentanyl versus PainBuster during the first 12 hours after surgery, but they became comparable thereafter, with a shortened bowel recovery time in the PainBuster group. The concurrent use of ITM with PainBuster may be considered in a future investigation.