Randomized controlled trial on preemptive analgesia for acute postoperative pain management in children.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Preemptive analgesia is an anti-nociceptive treatment that starts before surgery and prevents the establishment of central sensitization. Whether preemptive analgesia is more effective than conventional regimens for managing postoperative pain remains controversial. This study evaluated the efficacy of intravenous preemptive analgesia for acute postoperative pain control in pediatric patients.

METHODS:

In this prospective randomized controlled trial, 51 children aged 3-7 years, scheduled for corrective osteotomy were randomized into control (group C) or preemptive (group P) group. Both groups received standardized general anesthesia, including intravenous patient-controlled analgesia (IV-PCA) with fentanyl, which was started before skin incision in group P or 5 min thereafter in group C. IV-PCA data, pain scores using verbal rating scale (VRS) and Wong-Baker FACES(®) pain rating scale (WBFS), emergence agitation score (EAS) using the Pediatric Anesthesia Emergence Delirium (PAED) scale, analgesic requirements, and complications were recorded.

RESULTS:

The primary outcome, pain score at postoperative 1 h, showed no difference between the groups. Both groups did not demonstrate emergence agitation (PAED cutoff value ≥ 12), although the EAS at admission to the postanesthetic care unit (PACU) was lower in group P than in group C (P = 0.002; mean difference 4.85, 95% CI 1.97-7.73). There were no differences in the delivered volume of IV-PCA, frequency of pushing the IV-PCA button, effective push attempts, VRS, WBFS, EAS at discharge from the PACU, additional analgesic requirements, and complications.

CONCLUSION:

Preemptive analgesia using IV-PCA with fentanyl showed no significant advantages for postoperative analgesia after corrective osteotomy in pediatric patients.

• Authors: In-Kyung Song, Yong-Hee Park, Ji-Hyun Lee, Jin-Tae Kim, In Ho Choi, Hee-Soo Kim
• Journal: Paediatric anaesthesia (Paediatr Anaesth) Vol. 26 Issue 4 Pg. 438-43 (Apr 2016) ISSN: 1460-9592 [Electronic] France
• PMID: 26890267 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Randomized Controlled Trial)
• Copyright: © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Chemical References

• Analgesics, Opioid
• Fentanyl

Topics

• Acute Pain (prevention & control)
• Administration, Intravenous
• Analgesia (methods)
• Analgesia, Patient-Controlled
• Analgesics, Opioid (administration & dosage, therapeutic use)
• Child
• Child, Preschool
• Delirium (epidemiology)
• Female
• Fentanyl (administration & dosage, therapeutic use)
• Humans
• Infant
• Male
• Osteotomy
• Pain Management (methods)
• Pain Measurement
• Pain, Postoperative (prevention & control)
• Prospective Studies
• Psychomotor Agitation (epidemiology)
• Treatment Outcome