Effectiveness of Pain Control of Local Anaesthetic Wound Infusion Following Elective Midline Laparotomy: A Randomized Trial

Background: Post-operative pain control is an important pillar in enhanced recovery after surgery. There is a paucity of data that compares efficacy of pain control between continuous local anaesthetic wound infusion and thoracic epidural analgesia in elective midline laparotomy patients Objective: To evaluate pain control between continuous local anaesthetic wound infusion and thoracic epidural analgesia in elective laparotomy patients. Design: A randomized, single-blind, controlled clinical trial. Setting: Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya. Population: Patients underwent elective laparotomy. Methods: Thirty-eight patients scheduled for elective laparotomy were randomized into two equal groups to receive either continuous local anaesthetic wound infusion or thoracic epidural analgesia. Data on the baseline patient characteristics, total morphine consumption at 72 h, visual analogue scores and rates of adverse effects were collected. Results: Baseline characteristics of the participants were similar. Continuous local anaesthetic wound infusion was equivalent to thoracic epidural analgesia in terms of pain scores and total morphine consumption at 72 h. Duration of hospital stay was shorter in the intervention arm. There were more surgical site infections in the intervention arm, while catheter dislodgement rate was higher in the thoracic epidural arm. Conclusion: Continuous local anaesthetic wound infusion is equivalent to thoracic epidural analgesia in management of post-operative pain following elective midline laparotomy. Clinical trial registration: Pan African Clinical Trial registry, number PACTR201808607220790.