Evaluation of Postoperative Pain Control and Quality of Recovery in Patients Using Intravenous Patient-Controlled Analgesia with Fentanyl: A Prospective Randomized Study.

Aim: Opioids are increasingly used to control postoperative pain via intravenous patient-controlled analgesia, with several advantages. The present study evaluated the effects of intravenous patient-controlled analgesia with different doses of fentanyl on postoperative pain and on the quality of physical/emotional recovery from surgery and anesthesia.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed data from 288 patients, and evaluated whether intravenous patient-controlled analgesia with fentanyl correlated with the degree of postoperative pain. We then prospectively studied 47 patients who underwent elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy. The patients were randomized into 2 groups (15 or 30 μg/mL of fentanyl), and postoperative pain control was compared using a visual analog scale score. Furthermore, the Japanese 40-item quality of recovery (QoR-40J) score (global and dimensional) and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) were used to assess the quality of recovery from surgery and anesthesia.

Results: Of 288 patients, 20% complained of intolerable pain and 18% experienced postoperative nausea and vomiting. In the prospective study, the visual analog scale pain score was lower in the Fentanyl 30 group than in the Fentanyl 15 group (p<0.05) on postoperative day 1. Dimensional QoR-40J pain subscales correlated with both the emotional state subscales (postoperative day 1, p<0.05; day 2, p<0.05) and global QoR-40 scores on both postoperative days (day 1, p<0.05; day 2, p<0.05).

Conclusion: The postoperative pain as well as the physical and emotional quality of recovery in the patients who underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy could be alleviated by sufficient doses of opioids.