Patient controlled analgesia with fentanyl or sufentanil in the postoperative period of knee ligament reconstruction: comparative study.

Background And Objectives: Epidural opioids, associated or not to local anesthetics, have been used for postoperative analgesia in continuous infusion and/or patient controlled boluses. The aim of this study was to compare postoperative analgesia provided by epidural fentanyl or sufentanil, in bolus or continuous infusion, in patients submitted to knee ligament reconstruction.

Methods: Seventy ASA I - II patients, aged 16 to 47 years, were randomly distributed in two groups.