Cryoanalgesia after thoracotomy

Role of cryoanalgesia in the control of pain after thoracotomy.

Thoracotomy causes severe postoperative pain, which is difficult to manage since the use of systemic analgesics often causes respiratory depression. Cryoanalgesia of the intercostal nerves has been advocated as an effective means of local analgesia without serious side effects. A prospective randomised blind trial to investigate the efficacy of the technique was carried out. A total of 53 patie...

Cryoanalgesia in the management of pain after thoracotomy.

The demand for postoperative analgesia was compared between 29 patients treated with cryoanalgesia to the relevant intercostal nerves during thoracotomy and a control group who did not have cryoanalgesia. The cryoanalgesia group required significantly less (p < 0.005) postoperative analgesia than did the control group.

Effect of Cryoanalgesia Combined with Intravenous Continuous Analgesia in Thoracotomy Patients

Fifty patients undergoing thoracotomy was studied to compare the effects of cryoanalgesia combined with intravenous continuous analgesia (IVCA). Patients were randomized into two groups: IVCA group and IVCA-cryo group. Subjective pain intensity was assessed on a visual analogue scale at rest (VAS-R) and during movement (VAS-M). Analgesic requirements were evaluated over the 7 days following sur...

Pain control after thoracotomy.

Lung injury after thoracotomy.

Postoperative respiratory complications are the commonest problem after all types of thoracic surgery. The exact incidence depends on the type of surgery and the preoperative health and lung function of the patient, but rates of up to 50% are often quoted. 2 Most of these complications are diagnosed as either `pneumonia' or `postoperative atelectasis'. However, the role of microbiological patho...