Intravenous lidocaine simultaneously infused with sufentanil to accelerate gastrointestinal function recovery in patients after thoracolumbar surgery: a prospective, randomized, double-blind controlled study

Mengmeng Chen, Danhong Wu, Fang Chen, Jun Li, Junzheng Wu, Wangning Shangguan

November 2022, pp 1 - 8 Original Article Read Full Article

First Online: 17 November 2022

Purpose

Postoperative gastrointestinal dysfunction is one of the common complications of surgery, especially after surgery for a thoracolumbar spinal fracture. Intravenous lidocaine is a potential method to improve postoperative gastrointestinal function in surgical patients, reduce opioid use and shorten hospital stays. The purpose of this study is to explore the effect of intravenous lidocaine on the recovery of gastrointestinal function in patients after thoracolumbar surgery.

Methods

In this study, 48 eligible patients undergoing elective thoracolumbar spine fractures resection and internal fixation surgery were enrolled to receive intravenous injections of lidocaine in different concentrations during the perioperative period. Patients were randomly divided into three groups: control group (group A), low concentration of lidocaine group (group B) and high concentration of lidocaine group (group C), 16 patients in each group. First postoperative exhaust time, numbers of bowel sound at preoperative and postoperative 3, 6, 12, 24 h, pain scores at postoperative 0, 3, 6, 12, 24, 48 h, total sufentanil use in PACU and perioperative periods, postoperative hospital stay and analgesic remedy within postoperative 48 h were recorded and compared. The primary endpoints include: the time of first flatus passage after the operation, the number of bowel sounds per minute counted with stethoscope at 30 min before anesthesia induction and at 3, 6, 12 and 24 h postoperative. The secondary endpoints included: the pain scores at PACU (after entering into PACU), 3, 6, 12, 24 and 48 h postoperative, the amount of sufentanil administrated by intravenous push during operation and the numbers of patients needed rescuing sufentanil in PACU, and the numbers of patients needed administration of gastric motility drugs or non-steroidal analgesics at ward within 48 h postoperation, length of hospital stay (from the first day after surgery to discharge from hospital) and the incidence of adverse reactions.

Results

Compared with group A, the first postoperative exhaust time in group B and C occurred much earlier (23.3 ± 11.0 h vs. 16.0 ± 6.6 h, 16.6 ± 5.1 h, P

Conclusions

Intravenous lidocaine infusion together with patient-controlled analgesia of sufentanil expedited the early recovery of gastrointestinal function and improved analgesic quality of sefentanyl in patients undergoing thoracolumbar surgeries.

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