Epidural analgesia in abdominal surgery: 0.2% ropivacaine with sufentanil.

AIM: Combining an opioid with peridural local analgesia is an excellent technique to control post-operative pain. Sufentanil is a widely used opioid agent, but its optimal dosage has not yet been defined. In this study we wanted to determine the best dose of epidural sufentanil in major surgery. METHODS: Before the operation, 45 major abdominal surgery patients received blended anesthesia through an epidural chest catheter. The patients were randomized into 3 groups of 15 subjects according to different sufentanil doses [0.2% ropivacaine combined with sufentanil at a dose of 0.5 microg/ml(-1), 0.75 microg/ml(-1), or 1 microg/ml(-1) (groups A, B and C, respectively)] administered through an epidural chest catheter connected to an elastometric pump (5 ml/h) for the first 36 postoperative hours. The level of postoperative analgesia in motion and at rest was measured using an analog visual scale (VAS-R, VAS-I). RESULTS: Analgesia was best in group A, and similar in groups B and C; 2 cases of pruritus were noted in group C. The VAS-I scores were <3 across all 3 patient groups. CONCLUSION: Epidural analgesia is an efficacious and reliable technique. The combination of 0.2% ropivacaine and 0.75 microg/ml(-1) sufentanil was found to be the optimum choice between analgesic efficacy and minor side effects, which correlated with the higher dose of sufentanil given to group C.