RATIONALE: Patient-controlled analgesia using fentanyl and bupivacaine may lessen pain caused by video-assisted chest surgery. Giving bupivacaine in different ways may give better pain relief. PURPOSE: Thisrandomized clinical trial is comparing three different ways to give bupivacaine together with fentanyl to see how well they work in reducing pain after video-assisted chest surgery.
OBJECTIVES: Primary * To compare the efficacy of intravenous, patient-controlled, narcotic pain management alone to the efficacy of intermittent bolus injection of bupivacaine hydrochloride via an intrapleural catheter in patients who have successfully undergone video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS). Secondary * To compare the efficacy of intermittent bolus administration of bupivacaine hydrochloride to the efficacy of continuous bupivacaine hydrochloride administration via an intrapleural catheter in patients who have successfully undergone VATS. * To compare visual analog scale pain scores at all measurement times. * To compare patient satisfaction scores for each method of pain control. * To compare rates of conversion from bolus delivery to intravenous narcotic delivery. * To compare rates of conversion from continuous intrapleural infusion to bolus delivery or intravenous narcotic delivery alone. * To compare the total amount of narcotics used between bolus intrapleural delivery and continuous intrapleural infusion. OUTLINE: Patients are randomized to 1 of 3 treatment arms. * Arm I: Patients receive intravenous patient-controlled analgesia (IV-PCA) fentanyl citrate beginning once the patient is awake and alert after surgery and continuing for 24 hours. * Arm II: Patients receive intermittent intrapleural bolus bupivacaine hydrochloride immediately after surgery and then at 6, 12, 18, and 24 hours after surgery and IV-PCA fentanyl citrate as in arm I. * Arm III: Patients receive a continuous infusion of intrapleural bupivacaine hydrochloride beginning immediately after surgery and continuing for 24 hours and IV-PCA fentanyl citrate as in arm I. In all arms, visual analog scale measurements are taken at baseline and 6, 12, 18, and 24 hours post-surgery. After 24 hours, a 5-point Likert scale survey is administered to assess overall patient satisfaction with pain control in the 24-hour postoperative period.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
30
Roswell Park Cancer Institute
Buffalo, New York, United States
Overall consumption of narcotics between the 3 treatment arms
Time frame: up to 24 hours after surgery
Differences in Visual Analog Scale measurements between the 3 treatment arms
Time frame: baseline and 6, 12, 18, and 24 hours post-surgery
Rates of conversion and overall satisfaction with pain management
Time frame: 24 hours post-surgery
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