Intraoperative Nefopam Reduces Acute Postoperative Pain after Laparoscopic Gastrectomy: a Prospective, Randomized Study

Background We assessed whether intraoperative nefopam would reduce opioid consumption and relieve postoperative pain in patients undergoing laparoscopic gastrectomy. Methods The 60 enrolled patients were randomly assigned to the control (n = 32) or nefopam (n = 28) group. All patients were blinded to their group assignment. We administered 100 ml of normal saline only (control group) or 20 mg of nefopam mixed in 100 ml normal saline (nefopam group) after anesthesia induction and at the end of surgery. The cumulative amount of fentanyl via intravenous patient-controlled analgesia (PCA), incidence of rescue analgesic medication, and numerical rating scale (NRS) for postoperative pain were evaluated along with the total remifentanil consumption. Results The mean infusion rate of remifentanil was significantly lower in the nefopam group (0.08 +/- 0.05 mu g/kg/min) than in the control group (0.13 +/- 0.06 mu g/kg/min) (P < 0.001). Patients in the nefopam group required less fentanyl via intravenous PCA than those in the control group during the first 6 h after surgery (323.8 +/- 119.3 lig vs. 421.2 +/- 151.6 mu g, P= 0.009). Additionally, fewer patients in the nefopam group than in the control group received a rescue analgesic during the initial 6 h postoperatively (78.6 vs. 96.9%, P = 0.028). The NRS measured while patients were in the post-anesthetic care unit was significantly lower in the nefopam group than in the control group (3.8 +/- 1.1 vs. 4.8 +/- 1.4, P = 0.012). The subsequent NRS obtained after patients had been transferred to the general ward was comparable between the two groups during the following postoperative period. Conclusions Intraoperative nefopam decreased postoperative pain and opioid consumption in the acute postoperative period after laparoscopic gastrectomy. Hence, nefopam may be considered as a component of multimodal analgesia after laparoscopic gastrectomy.