The effects of postoperative continuous epidural analgesia after laparoscopy-assisted colectomy

Background : This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of continuous epidural analgesia on the post-operative pain and the early recovery after laparoscopy-assisted colectomy (LAC). Methods : A total of 50 patients undergoing elective LAC were investigated for postoperative pain score and other variables retrospectively. Results : Thirty patients who had received epidural analgesia (E group) showed significantly lower pain scores for 2 and 24 hours after surgery, compared with twenty 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 12 to 24 hours after the operation. The incidence of postoperative complications and the early recovery were not significantly different between the two groups. Conclusions : These results show that postoperative continuous epidural analgesia is effective for post-operative pain relief in patients after laparoscopy-assisted colectomy.