Objective

The use of epidural analgesia after major surgery is a well-established analgesia method. Epidural analgesia for postoperative pain relief needs to be monitored regularly in order to evaluate patient satisfaction and avoid side effects. However, due to the new available regional techniques, the role of epidural analgesia is being questioned and data about patient satisfaction is lacking. The current study was designed to evaluate patient satisfaction with epidural analgesia, its efficacy and reasons for premature termination of epidural analgesia.

Materials and methods

We conducted a retrospective survey of all patients who undergone surgery at Uppsala University hospital between October 2012 and January 2014 requiring continuous epidural analgesia for postoperative pain relief. Patients’ satisfaction with epidural analgesia and its effectiveness were evaluated by using paper questionnaire.

Results

During the study period 579 epidurals were inserted in patients scheduled for vascular, hepatobiliary, esophageal and other major abdominal surgery. The average treatment time was 3.8±1.8 days. Epidural analgesia consisted either of bupivacaine 0.1%+sufentanil 1 μg/ml solution or ropivacaine 0.2% solution. If patient needed opiates during treatment with epidural analgesia, only ropivacaine 0,2% solution was used. 494 (87.9%) patients were satisfied with their analgesia with no difference in satisfaction between sexes being observed. In 62 cases (11.2%) patient controlled analgesia was used on top of epidural analgesia with ropivacaine 0.2% solution, and 50.8% of patients were satisfied in this group. 514 (91.4%) patients were reported as having a good effect, 24 (4.3%) patients reported or were tested to show some effect, and 24 (4.3%) had no effect. No major neurological complications (epidural hematoma or abscess) were observed.

Conclusions

Our retrospective survey indicates that patients are satisfied with continuous epidural analgesia used in major surgery.

中文翻译：

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瑞典大学医院的主要外科手术后患者对连续硬膜外镇痛的满意度。

目的

大手术后使用硬膜外镇痛是一种行之有效的镇痛方法。需要定期监测硬膜外镇痛以减轻术后疼痛，以评估患者满意度并避免副作用。然而，由于新的可用的区域技术，硬膜外镇痛的作用受到质疑，并且缺乏有关患者满意度的数据。当前的研究旨在评估患者对硬膜外镇痛的满意度，其疗效以及硬膜外镇痛的提前终止原因。

材料和方法

我们对2012年10月至2014年1月间在乌普萨拉大学医院接受手术的所有患者进行了回顾性调查，这些患者需要连续硬膜外镇痛以减轻术后疼痛。通过纸质问卷评估患者对硬膜外镇痛的满意度及其有效性。

结果

在研究期间，在计划进行血管，肝胆，食管和其他主要腹部手术的患者中插入了579个硬膜外麻醉。平均治疗时间为3.8±1.8天。硬膜外镇痛由0.1％布比卡因+ 1μg/ ml舒芬太尼溶液或0.2％罗比卡因溶液组成。如果患者在硬膜外镇痛治疗期间需要鸦片制剂，则仅使用罗哌卡因0.2％溶液。有494例（87.9％）患者对镇痛感到满意，而男女之间的满意度没有差异。在62例（11.2％）患者中，采用罗哌卡因0.2％溶液在硬膜外镇痛的基础上使用患者自控镇痛，该组患者中50.8％的患者满意。据报道有514名（91.4％）患者具有良好的疗效，有24名（4.3％）患者已报告或经过测试显示出一定的效果，还有24名（4。3％）无效。没有观察到重大的神经系统并发症（硬膜上血肿或脓肿）。

结论

我们的回顾性调查表明，患者对大手术中使用的连续硬膜外镇痛感到满意。