A COMPARISON OF EPIDURAL INFUSIONS OF FENTANYL OR PETHIDINE WITH BUPIVACAINE IN THE MANAGEMENT OF POSTOPERATIVE PAIN

A double-blind randomised clinical trial was undertaken in 40 patients undergoing major abdominal surgery. Postoperative pain relief was pro vided using epidural infusions of 0.06% bupivacaine with fentanyl 4 mu g.ml(-1) (n = 20) (group F) or with pethidine 1.5 mg.ml(-1) (n = 20) (group P). Postoperative pain scores using a visual analogue scale (0- 100 mm) were not significantly different between the two groups. Media n pain scores were 0-19 mm at all times of assessment indicating that good analgesia was provided by both regimens. There was no significant difference between the epidural infusion rates in the two groups. The side effects and effect on pulmonary function were similar in each gr oup. Nine patients were withdrawn from the study (four from group F, f ive from group P) due to failure of the epidural technique or other co mplications. Fourteen patients, equally distributed, required a total of 24 epidural 'top-ups' by an anaesthetist because of inadequate anal gesia. We demonstrated no advantage with epidural pethidine over fenta nyl when used by infusion in combination with bupivacaine in the manag ement of postoperative pain.