Anesthesia and analgesia
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Jan 2006
Meta Analysis Comparative StudyDoes continuous peripheral nerve block provide superior pain control to opioids? A meta-analysis.
Although most randomized clinical trials conclude that the addition of continuous peripheral nerve blockade (CPNB) decreases postoperative pain and opioid-related side effects when compared with opioids, studies have included relatively small numbers of patients and the majority failed to show statistical significance during all time periods for reduced pain or side effects. We identified studies primarily by searching Ovid Medline (1966-May 21, 2004) for terms related to postoperative analgesia with CPNB and opioids. Each article from the final search was reviewed and data were extracted from tables, text, or extrapolated from figures as needed. ⋯ Nausea/vomiting, sedation, and pruritus all occurred more commonly with opioid analgesia (P < 0.001). A reduction in opioid use was noted with perineural analgesia (P < 0.001). CPNB analgesia, regardless of catheter location, provided superior postoperative analgesia and fewer opioid-related side effects when compared with opioid analgesia.