Influence of infiltration anaesthesia on perioperative outcomes following lumbar discectomy under surgical pleth index-guided general anaesthesia: A preliminary report from a randomised controlled prospective trial.

Purpose: Severe postoperative pain (SPP) may occur after lumbar discectomy. To prevent SPP and reduce rescue opioid consumption, infiltration anaesthesia (IA) has been combined with general anaesthesia (GA). This study verified how GA combined with IA facilitated intra- and postoperative demand for opioids and affected the incidence of SPP in patients subjected to open lumbar discectomy.