The effects of postoperative continuous epidural analgesia after laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy

Background: This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of continuous epidural analgesia on the postoperative pain and the early recovery after laparoscopy-assisted gastrectomy (LAG). Methods: A total of 66 patients undergoing elective LAG were investigated for postoperative pain score and other variables retrospectively. Results: Forty-four patients who had received epidural analgesia (E group) showed significantly lower pain scores for 2, 12 and 48 hours after surgery, compared with 22 patients who had received analgesics intramuscularly or transrectally (C group). The patients in the E group needed significantly less supplemental analgesics than those in C group for 2 and 12 hours after the operation. The early recovery and the incidence of postoperative complications were not significantly different between the two groups. Conclusions: These results show that postoperative continuous epidural analgesia is effective for postoperative pain relief in patients after laparoscopy-assisted gastrectomy.