Korean J Anesthesiol.  2003 Oct;45(4):481-485. 10.4097/kjae.2003.45.4.481.

A Comparison of the Effect of Fentanyl and Fentanyl-Nalbuphine for Postoperative Analgesia Using IV-PCA

• Seol GY
• Choi JS
• Park CH
• Lee CS
• Kim WT

• KMID: 2299032
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4097/kjae.2003.45.4.481

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) is effectively used for postoperative pain control. Fentanyl has a strong analgesic effect but has some side effects. The purpose of this study was to compare the side effects and analgesic effects of fentanyl alone and combination with nalbuphine in patients using intravenous PCA.
METHODS
Forty six ASA class 1 or 2 patients were randomly divided into two groups. Group F (n = 23) received fentanyl 1,200microgram in 100 ml of normal saline. Group NF (n = 23) received nalbupine 60 mg and fentanyl 600microgram in 100 ml of normal saline. All patients used the same background infusion rate (2 ml/hr), bolus dose (2 ml) and lockout interval (15 min) just after emergence from general anesthesia. The analgesic effect was evaluated by using a visual analogue scale (VAS) at 1 hr, 6 hr, 12 hr, 24 hr and 48 hr postoperatively. Side effects and satisfaction degree were also checked.
RESULTS
No significant differences were observed between the two groups in terms of pain scores and satisfaction degrees. The side effects were similar in both groups except that sedation was significantly (P<0.05) lower in group NF.
CONCLUSIONS
We conclude that nalbuphine with fentanyl in combination is a useful method for intravenous PCA. On comparing the incidence of side effects in the two groups, sedation was found to be lower for the combined regimen.

Keyword

fentanyl; intravenous patient-controlled analgesia (IV-PCA); nalbuphine; postoperative complication

MeSH Terms

Analgesia*
Analgesia, Patient-Controlled
Anesthesia, General
Fentanyl*
Humans
Incidence
Nalbuphine
Pain, Postoperative
Passive Cutaneous Anaphylaxis
Postoperative Complications
Fentanyl
Nalbuphine