The Effect of Preemptive Local Infiltration on Postoperative Pain After Vaginal Hysterectomy: A Retrospective Study

Study Objective: To investigate the effect of preemptive infiltration on postoperative pain and the use of analgesics after vaginal hysterectomy (VH).Design: A retrospective study.Setting: An urogynecology unit in a tertiary medical center.Patients: A total of 120 patients who had undergone VH. Interventions: The study group contained 60 patients who participated in a former randomized control study, in which pre-emptive local infiltration of bupivacaine (n = 30) or sodium chloride 0.9% (n = 30) was performed. The control group included 60 consecutive patients who underwent a VH, for whom no local infiltration was performed.Measurements and Main Results: Postoperative pain at rest was assessed using the 10 cm visual analog scale at 3, 8, and 24 hours after surgery. The levels of pain, as well as the use of analgesics, postoperatively, were compared between the groups. The mean surgery length in the infiltration group was shorter (86.4 +/- 29 vs 118.6 +/- 30, p <.001) and the rate of posterior colporrhaphy was lower (73.1% vs 91.3%, p = .010) than the control group. There were no differences in levels of pain at all points of time. However, the infiltration group required a lower morphine dose in the recovery unit (3.7 +/- 2.3 mg vs 5.3 +/- 2.4 mg, p <.001) and less use of analgesia (all kinds) 24 hours after surgery (54.2% vs 79.6%, p <.001) compared with the control group. On multivariant analysis, preemptive infiltration was found to be indepen-dently inversely associated with the dose of morphine used in recovery, as well as analgesics used 24 hours after surgery.Conclusion: Preemptive local infiltration of either bupivacaine or sodium chloride 0.9% reduced the use of morphine in the recovery unit, as well as the use of analgesics 24 hours after VH, compared with no infiltration at all. Journal of Minimally Invasive Gynecology (2023) 30, 308-311. (c) 2022 AAGL. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The study aimed to investigate the effect of preemptive infiltration on postoperative pain and the use of analgesics after vaginal hysterectomy. A total of 120 patients who had undergone VH were included in the retrospective study. The results showed that preemptive infiltration group required a lower morphine dose in the recovery unit and less use of analgesia 24 hours after surgery. Evaluation: 7 points.