Nebulised fentanyl for post-operative pain relief, a prospective double-blind controlled randomised clinical trial.

Background And Aim: Intravenous (IV) route for fentanyl administration is the gold standard for post-operative pain relief, but complications such as respiratory depression, bradycardia and hypotension have limited this route. The aim of this randomised controlled trial was to compare the efficacy of nebulised fentanyl with IV fentanyl for post-operative pain relief after lower abdominal surgery.

Methods: In the post-operative care unit, at the time of first onset of pain (visual analogue scale- VAS score > 4) patients were randomised into three groups and fentanyl was administered either IV 2 μg/kg or by nebulisation of solution containing 3 or 4 μg/kg fentanyl over 8 min in 90 patients divided into three groups of 30 each.