623: Continuous Wound Infusion With Levobupivacaine After Total Abdominal Hysterectomy With Bilateral Salpingo-Oophorectomy

AbstractBackground and Purpose: Blockade of nociceptive afferents by the useof continuous wound infiltration with local anesthetics may be beneficialin a postoperative multimodal pain management after total abdominal hy-sterectomy (TAH) with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy (BSO). The roleof continuous wound infusion of levobupivacaine for pain relief and post-operative recovery was evaluated. Materials and Methods: Fifty female patients (ASA I-III) scheduledfor TAH and BSO were divided in two equal groups during prospective,double-blinded,placebo-controlledtrial.Oncompletionoftheoperation,amultiorifice 20-gauge epidural catheter was placed above the superficialabdominal fascia. Patients were randomly assigned to receive through thecatheter 0.25% levobupivacaine (Group L) with 6 ml bolus followed by aninfusion of 7 ml/h during 48 h, or the same protocol with 0.9% NaCl (GroupS). Simultaneously, patient-controlled analgesia provided intravenous mor-phine. All patients also received diclofenac 75 mg every 12 h for 48 h.