ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the analgesic effect and adverse reactions of patient-controlled intravenous analgesia (PCIA) in breast cancer patients with radical mastectomy.Methods A total of 210 breast cancer patients who underwent radical mastectomy was randomly divided into two groups,experimental (group A) and control (group B) groups (n =105 cases per group).Patients in group A was used PCIA for 48 hours analgesia,while group B weas applied routine intramuscular injections of pethidine.Visual analogue score (VAS) at 4,8,12,24,and 48 hours after operation were recorded.Pulse,respiration,and blood pressure were monitored and side effects e.g.existed skin itching,nausea,vomiting,and respiratory repression were observed.Results The VAS of group A patients on 4,8,12,24,and 48 hours were2.02 ± 1.47,1.73 ± 1.38,1.68 ± 0.91,1.44 ± 0.65,and 1.21 ± 0.61,respectively;and the VAS of group B patients were 6.95 ± 1.96,6.42 ± 1.57,5.63 ± 1.66,4.99 ± 1.62,and 3.72 ± 1.46,respectively.The VAS was significantly lower in group A patients than in group B (P ＜ 0.05).The incidence of skin itching,nausea,vomiting,and respiratory repression was also distinctly decreased in group A than in group B (P ＜0.05).The overall satisfaction of patients in group A (96.2％) was remarkably higher than in group B (67.6％) (P ＜0.01).Conclusions Patient-controlled intravenous analgesia pump can more effectively alleviate the degree of pain,reduce the incidence of skin itching,nausea,vomiting and respiratory repression,improve the satisfactory degree for analgesia in breast cancer patients with radical mastectomy compared to traditional intramuscular way.