EFFECTIVENESS OF WOUND INFILTRATION WITH LOCAL ANESTHETIC AGENT AFTER ABDOMINAL SURGERY

Objective: To assess the effectiveness of local infiltration of wound with 20 ml of 0.5% bupivicain after abdominal surgery in term of delay in postoperative analgesic demand.Material and Methods: This case control study was carried out at the Surgical Unit ofCity Hospital, Kohat Road Peshawar from January 2004 to January 2005. Two hundred patients, who underwent abdominal surgery selected by non-probability convenient sampling were randomized by odd or even numbering into two equal groups: Group1 (the study group) and Group 2 (the control group). In group 1 patients (n=100) the wound and surrounding tissues were infiltrated with 20 ml of0.5% bupivicain and in Group 2 patients (n-100) the wound was not infiltrated. Post-operative pain was assessed with visual analogue scale (VAS).Results: Patients in Group 1 were more comfortable during the postoperative period and average delay in analgesic demandwas 5.1± 0.8 hour as compared to a 2.4± 1.1 hour in group-2. Eight (8%) patients in the group 1 required no supplementary analgesia at all. Patients in study group-1 were mobilized much earlier (8.8 ± 1.2 hours) as compared to control group-2 (18.1 ± 1.5 hours). There was no significant difference in the incidence ofwound related complications between the two groups. Mean hospital stay in group-1 was 51.20 ± 2.5 hours as compared to 73.20 ± 3.7 hours in group-2.Conclusion: Wbund infiltration with bupivacain is an effective method ofminimizing postoperative pain