the bupivacaine effects on opioids usage and admission duration in patients underwent inguinal hernia repair

abstract: introduction & objective: postoperative pain management and narcotic usage after inguinal hernia repair is an important concern for anesthesiologists and surgeons. the purpose of this study was to find out whether the use of local anesthetic nerve block in ilioinguinal and iliohypogastric region by bupivacaine could reduce postoperative pain and hospital admission periods after inguinal hernia repair. materials & methods: in a randomized clinical trail, 100 patients with diagnosis of unilateral inguinal hernia undergoing inguinal hernia repair were randomly allocated to two groups. the patients in the intervention group (n= 50) received bupivacaine for ilioinguinal and iliohypogastric nerve blocking, while those in the control group (n =50) received nothing. then opioids (methadone) usage and hospital admission duration were evaluated in the two groups. the collected data were then analyzed by spss software using descriptive and analytic methods (chi square and student t test). results: the mean admission times were 1±0.4 and 2±0.91 in the intervention and control groups respectively and the difference was statistically significant (p<0.01). also the number of the patients who intermittently received methadone was less in the intervention group in comparison with that of the control (p<0.05). furthermore, intervention group received less amount of methadone during their admission (p<0.05). conclusion: local anesthetic nerve block in ilioinguinal and iliohypogastric region by bupivacaine could reduce opioids usage and the duration of hospital stay after inguinal hernia repair.