The efficacy of tramadol for patient-controlled intravenous vs epidural analgesia and the effect on T-lymphocyte subsets and natural killer cells / 中华麻醉学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To compare the efficacy of tramadol for patient-controlled intravenous versus provicial epidural analgesia (PCIA vs PCEA) and their effects on the T-lymphocyte subsets and natural killer (NK) cells during postoperative period in patients undergoing gynecological operation for tumor. Methods Thirty-nine ASA Ⅰ-Ⅱ patients aged 18-83 yr undergoing elective surgery for ovarian cancer or uterine cancer or myoma were randomly divided into two groups PCIA group (n = 21) and PCEA group ( n = 18). Premedication consisted of intramuscular atropine 0.5 mg and phenobarbital 0.1 g. Operation was performed under epidural anesthesia. Epidural catheter was inserted at T12 -L1 approximately 3-4 cm into epidural space cephalad. The patients received a test dose of 2% lidocaine 5 ml. The first dose was 2% lidocaine 10-12 ml followed by 0.5% bupivacaine 5 ml every 45-60 min. Tramadol 100 mg was given iv in PCIA group or epidurally in PCEA group 15 min before the end of surgery. 100 ml of PCIA solution contained tramadol 800 mg (16 ml), haloperidol 5 mg (1 ml) and normal saline 83 ml and 100 ml of PCEA solution contained tramadol 400 mg (8 ml), haloperidol 5 mg (1 ml) and NS 91 ml. The PCA pump was set to deliver a background infusion at 2 ml?h-1 and a bolus dose 0.5 ml with lock-out interval of 15 min. Analgesia was assessed using VAS. Venous blood samples were taken for determination of T-lymphocyte subset (CD3+ , CD4+ , CD8+) and NK cell counts by flow cytometry the day before surgery and on 1st and 2nd postoperative day. Results The postoperative analgesia was satisfactory in both groups, and there was no significant difference in VAS scores between the two groups. No vomiting and respiratory depression were observed in both groups. The NK cell counts decreased significantly on the 1 st and 2nd postoperative day as compared with the preoperative value (P