Effects of continuous fentanyl infusion on postoperative analgesia in posterior lumbar decompression: a retrospective study

Abstract

Purpose: We retrospectively evaluated the post-operative analgesic effect of intravenous fentanyl infusion on patients who underwent intervertebral lumbar decompression. Methods: We selected thirty-three patients who had received intravenous fentanyl infusion (fentanyl group), and fourteen who were placed on a conventional postoperative analgesic protocol (control group), after posterior 1 or 2 intervertebral lumbar decompression. Flurbiprofen 50 mg and acetaminophen 1,000 mg were administered at induction and the end of surgery respectively. Fentanyl 20 µg/h and droperidol 0.2 mg/h were infused for 24 hours after surgery for the fentanyl group. As a rescue analgesia, when visual analogue score (VAS) became 5 or more, analgesic protocol was active. Results: The VAS scores for the fentanyl group were significantly lower, only within the first 30 post-operative minutes. Conclusion: Intravenous infusion of fentanyl 20 µg/h plus droperidol 0.2 mg/h exhibits better analgesic effect, only within the first 30 minutes after posterior 1 or 2 intervertebral lumbar decompression.