Postoperative analgesic efficacy of continuous wound infusion with local anesthetics after laparoscopy (PAIN): a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

Background: To investigate the efficacy of continuous wound infusion (CWI) with local anesthetics for reducing postoperative pain compared with placebo in patients undergoing benign gynecologic laparoscopy. Methods: In this double-blind trial, 66 patients were randomly assigned to receive either ropivacaine or normal saline though a multi-orifice catheter placed into the umbilical surgical wound for 50 h postoperatively. The primary outcome measure was the severity of postoperative pain 1, 6, 12, 24, and 48 h after surgery. The secondary outcome measure was the number of rescue analgesics requested. Results: Baseline characteristics did not statistically differ between the ropivacaine and placebo groups. The intensity of postoperative pain was significantly lower in the ropivacaine group than in the placebo group 1, 6, 12, 24, and 48 h after surgery (all P < 0.05). The number of rescue analgesics requested was also significantly lower in the ropivacaine group than in the placebo group. There were no significant differences between the two groups regarding other surgical outcomes. Conclusion: CWI with local anesthetics after laparoscopic surgery provides good analgesia and reduces rescue analgesics consumption.