RESUMO
Postoperative pain was assessed in 30 patients undergoing inguinal herniorrhaphy with three types of anesthesia; general anesthesia [thiopentone-nitrous oxide-halothane], general anesthesia with the addition of local infiltration of the abdominal wall [with 0.25% bupivacaine along the line of the proposed incision] and spinal analgesia [using 0.5% bupivacaine]. The severity of constant incisional pain, movement associated incisional pain and pain upon pressure applied to the surgical wound was assessed by the visual analogue self rating scale at 24, 48 hours and 8 days after the surgery. The addition of local anesthetic with general anesthesia significantly decreased the intensity of all types of postoperative pain compared with general anesthesia alone or spinal analgesia