Korean J Endocr Surg.  2013 Dec;13(4):257-261. 10.0000/kjes.2013.13.4.257.

A Preliminary Study for Randomized, Controlled Trial of On-Q® PainBuster® Pain Pump vs. Intravenous Patient-controlled Analgesia after Gasless Transaxillary Endoscopic Thyroidectomy

• Lee KW
• Park CH
• Park YL
• Hyun KH
• Yoon JS

• KMID: 2375435
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.0000/kjes.2013.13.4.257

Abstract

PURPOSE
Gasless transaxillary approach to endoscopic thyroidectomy is a widely performed procedure for benign or malignant thyroid neoplasms. However, it requires wide dissection for approaching the target area. The intravenous patient-controlled analgesia (IV PCA) is an effective method for postoperative pain control and patients can use it according to their requirement. However, patients suffer from nausea, vomiting, sleep disturbance, etc. due to opioids. Pain pump ON-Q® PainBuster® (pain buster) has been used widely in various surgeries for control of postoperative localizing and wide area pain without side effects of opioid analgesia because it consists of Ropivacaine.
METHODS
From Aug. 2008 to Jan. 2013, Gasless transaxillary endoscopic thyroidectomy was performed in 90 patients in a single institution, who were divided into three groups, including the IV PCA, pain buster, and null groups. We compared postoperative outcomes, pain severity between groups. We recorded scores immediately, 6, 12, 24, and 48 hours after surgery following visual analog pain score (VAS), and investigated hospital stay and occurrence of events of nausea, vomiting, and complications.
RESULTS
In the IV PCA group, it was discontinued due to nausea in 36.7% of patients. No significant difference in pain severity following VAS score was observed among the three groups. However, smaller numbers of analgesia injections were required in the Pain buster group than in the other groups, and fewer patients suffered from constipation, compared with the PCA group.
CONCLUSION
Pain buster showed even effects compared to IV PCA, with few side effects and less discomfort of patients, compared with the other groups. Therefore, pain buster was thought to be the proper method for pain control after dissection of the anterior chest wall, cervical area in order to secure an operative view for transaxillary endoscopic thyroidectomy.

Keyword

Endoscopic thyroidectomy; Gasless transaxillary approach; Postoperative pain control

MeSH Terms

Analgesia
Analgesia, Patient-Controlled*
Analgesics, Opioid
Constipation
Humans
Length of Stay
Methods
Nausea
Pain, Postoperative
Passive Cutaneous Anaphylaxis
Thoracic Wall
Thyroid Neoplasms
Thyroidectomy*
Vomiting
Analgesics, Opioid