The use of patient-controlled analgesia with acute postoperative pain in arthroplasty of the joints of the lower extremities

To evaluate the effectiveness of postoperative pain relief using patient-controlled epidural analgesia.

Material and research methods: The study was conducted in 56 patients aged 65 to 90 years with a physical status according to ASA 3 and higher.

The patients underwent orthopedic surgical interventions: 30 patients underwent hip arthroplasty, 26 patients underwent knee replacement.

All examined patients were divided into 2 groups. In the 1st group (n = 30), postoperative pain relief was carried out traditionally by the administration of opioid analgesics at the request of the patient. In the 2nd group of patients (n = 26), postoperative anesthesia was performed using epidural anesthesia controlled by the patient using the “Accumate-1100 apparatus. Electronic PCA”.

Patient-controlled epidural analgesia is a reliable way to achieve analgesia in the postoperative period for total arthroplasty of the lower limb joints.