Spine
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Postoperative pain control after lumbar spine fusion. Patient-controlled analgesia versus continuous epidural analgesia.
A prospective, randomized, double-blind clinical trial. ⋯ These data suggest that there is no clinical advantage of epidural opiate/local anesthetic analgesia over systemic opiate by patient-controlled analgesia for spinal fusion patients. However, possible technical limitations (namely, the low dosage of bupivacaine and placement of the catheter tip) may have prevented adequate delivery of anesthetic to the involved segments. Although the incidence of side effects is similar, cost factors and a high incidence of epidural catheter dislodgment favor use of patient-controlled analgesia.