Postoperative pain control using continuous i.m. bupivacaine infusion plus patient-controlled analgesia compared with epidural analgesia after major hepatectomy

Objectives There is debate concerning the best mode of delivery of analgesia following liver resection, with continuous i.m. infusion of bupivacaine (CIB) plus patient-controlled i.v. analgesia (PCA) suggested as an alternative to continuous epidural analgesia (CEA). This study compares these two modalities.