Comparative Study of Postoperative Pain in Lower and Upper Abdominal Surgery Using Patient-Controlled Analgesia

통증 자가 조절법을 이용한 상복부와 하복부 수술 후 통증의 비교

Background: We studied 250 patients who received intravenous patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) after lower and upper abdominal surgery to evaluate pain relief, analgesic consumption, patient's mood and side effects. Methods: We made total 60 ml of analgesic mixture with morphine 60 mg, ketorolac 180 mg, droperidol 5 mg and normal saline. Loading and bolus dose and lockout interval were 0.05 ml/kg, 1.0 ml and 7 min, respectively. The duration of operation and the length of skin incision were recorded. Visual analog scale (VAS) pain and mood scores, cumulative analgesic consumption, and incidence of side effect were evaluated. Results: In the upper abdominal surgery group (Group 2), the duration of operation and length of skin incision were longer than Group 1. The average postoperative pain scores at 6, 24, and 48 hours in lower (Group 1) vs upper (Group 2) abdominal surgery were $4.3{\pm}2.1$ vs $4.7{\pm}2.4$, $3.3{\pm}1.9$ vs $4.3{\pm}2.8$, and $2.4{\pm}2.7$ vs $3.2{\pm}2.1$, respectively. There were no significant differences in the cumulative analgesic consumption and number of analgesic demands and at 6, 24, 48 hours after the operation between two groups. Group 2 patients required significantly longer pain control using PCA as compared to Group 1 patients. There were no significant differences in the incidence of side effects between the two groups. Conclusions: There was little difference in postoperative pain after lower and upper abdominal surgery.