Pain relief for post thoracotomy.

Fifty-nine patients undergoing thoracotomy were randomly divided into four groups to compare the postoperative analgesic effect of intraoperative intercostal nerve blocks with bupivacaine (group 2),or installation of bupivacaine into the pleural s pace (group 3), or epidermal morphine of 4 mg (group 4), as against a control group given intravenous morphine (group 1). The pain score was evaluated by visual analogue scale (VAS). The additional morphine intravenously administered was required for postoperative pain relief in all groups. Anyhow the group 4 patient had the lowest pain scores during the first 24-hours postoperative period.