The Effect of Perioperative Lidocaine Infusion on Postoperative Pain and Postsurgical Recovery Parameters in Gynecologic Cancer Surgery

Objectives: The primary objective of this prospective nonblinded randomized study was to investigate the effect of perioperative systemic lidocaine infusion on pain control after major gynecologic oncology surgery. Patient-reported outcomes, postoperative recovery parameters, and complications were secondary endpoints of the study. Materials and Methods: Seventy-five patients with American Society of Anesthesiologists I-III were divided into 3 groups based on perioperative analgesia methods-(1) opioid group: patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) with morphine; (2) lidocaine group: perioperative intravenous lidocaine infusion, plus PCA with morphine; and (3) the epidural group: PCA with bupivacaine. The Visual Analog Scale (VAS) was recorded postoperatively. In addition, nausea-vomiting, time to first oral intake, time to first ambulation, time to first flatus, and length of hospital stay were recorded. Results: VAS scores (rest) at 24 hours and VAS scores (cough) at 12 and 24 hours were significantly lower in the epidural group than in the opioid group (P<0.05). VAS scores were found to be similar between the lidocaine and epidural group. The nausea-vomiting incidence was lower in the lidocaine group than in the opioid group (P<0.05). Compared with the other 2 groups, the first flatus time was shorter in the lidocaine group (P<0.05). Discussion: Perioperative lidocaine infusion is effective as epidural analgesia, which is often advocated as the gold-standard analgesic technique for abdominal surgery and is superior to the others in terms of time to first flatus and the incidence of nausea-vomiting.

Automated summary

This study investigated the effects of perioperative systemic lidocaine infusion on pain control after major gynecologic oncology surgery. Results showed that lidocaine infusion was as effective as epidural analgesia, with better outcomes in terms of time to first flatus and nausea-vomiting incidence.