Bupivacaine wound infiltration reduces postoperative pain and analgesic requirement after thyroid surgery.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: We conducted a prospective double-blind randomized study assessing bupivacaine end-of-surgery wound infiltration for pain relief in thyroid surgery.

METHODS: Patients were randomly divided into two groups: Group S, local wound infiltration with saline solution; Group B, bupivacaine 0.5% was administered. Pain perception was measured using visual analogue scale (VAS) during post-anaesthetic care unit (PACU) stay every 10 min and during the 24 postoperative hours admission at 2, 4, 6, 12, and 24 h after surgery. The total consumption of analgesics (morphine and nefopam) was recorded.

RESULTS: Sixty patients were studied. The VAS scores were significantly lower in the bupivacaine administered group in the post-anaesthetic care unit (PACU) at 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 min, and during the hospital stay at hours 6, 12, 18 and 24. The number of patients who required postoperative opioid rescue was significantly lower in group B. No patient in group B developed neurological or cardiological complications after infiltration.

CONCLUSION: Bupivacaine application is effective in decreasing postoperative pain and analgesic requirement during the hospital stay for patients with thyroidectomy.