UI - 000182

AU - Zenz M

AU - Piepenbrock S

AU - Tryba M

AU - Bramswig H

TI - Peridural opiate analgesia. Clinical results of a 2-year study. [German]

AB - Postoperative pain relief, consumption of analgesics and the incidence of postoperative complications

were investigated in a retrospective cohort-study on 470 patients following abdominal surgery. 221 of these

patients received epidural morphine or buprenorphine for postoperative pain relief (Group I). Another group

of 249 patients received conventional opiate analgesics intravenously or intramuscularly (Group II). On

average the analgesia lasted 14 h after epidural morphine and 11 h after epidural buprenorphine. The overall

amount of morphine in the postoperative period was 13.3 +/- 14.9 mg and 0.89 +/- 0.55 mg buprenorphine

respectively. 5 cases of pneumonia (2.3%) were seen in the epidural group (Group I). 22 pneumonia cases

(8.8%) were registered in the group with conventional analgesics (Group II). Besides the advantage of

stronger and longer duration, small dosage and minor central depressive side effects, epidural opiate

analgesia has proven to result in positive clinical consequences. The low incidence of postoperative

pneumonia is due to the strong regional pain relief, which improves mechanical pulmonary function and gas

exchange

SO - Anaesthesist 1983;32:289-294