Epidural sufentanil and intramuscular buprenorphine

Respiratory depression following combination of epidural buprenorphine and intramuscular ketorolac.

A 48-year-old man who had undergone thoracotomy for carcinoma of the middle third of his oesophagus developed severe postoperative respiratory depression following intramuscular ketorolac 30 mg 2 h after 150 micrograms epidural buprenorphine. Summation of analgesia by drugs used in combination can have deleterious respiratory effects.

Continuous Epidural Sufentanil and Bupivacaine for Postoperative Analgesia

Epidural naloxone reduces postoperative nausea and vomiting in patients receiving epidural sufentanil for postoperative analgesia.

BACKGROUND Epidural opioids have excellent analgesic properties, but their side-effects limit their use in patient-controlled epidural analgesia. This study was designed to evaluate the effect of epidural naloxone on the side-effects of sufentanil, focusing on postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) in patients undergoing total knee replacement (TKR). METHODS After obtaining Institutional Re...

Pre-emptive effect of epidural sufentanil in abdominal hysterectomy.

BACKGROUND Experimental studies suggest pre-emptive administration of analgesics is effective but clinical evidence is less convincing. METHODS Forty-one patients undergoing abdominal hysterectomy were allocated randomly in a double-blind fashion to receive sufentanil 50 micrograms via a lumbar epidural catheter before or at the end of surgery. RESULTS Sufentanil consumption from a patient-...

Epidural buprenorphine and bupivacaine in major gynaecological operations.

Eight patients underwent major gynaecological operations. Their post-operative analgesia was provided by epidural buprenorphine 0.15 mg and bupivacaine 0.5%. The efficacy and side-effects of this combination were assessed. All patients had satisfactory analgesia ranging in duration from 10 hours to greater than 36 hours after a single dose injection. No significant side-effect was noted.