The effect of bupivacaine on postoperative pain in patients who underwent laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy

INTRODUCTION: It is known that pain is an important parameter that affects the healing process after surgery. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of bupivacaine on pain in the first 24 h postoperatively in patients who underwent laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) by administering bupivacaine to both the intraperitoneal and preperitoneal areas during the surgery.
METHODS: The effect of bupivacaine on postoperative pain in 78 patients who underwent LSG between January 2023 and May 2023 was evaluated retrospectively. The patients were divided into two groups: bupivacaine-applied and non-applied groups. Patients were compared in terms of postoperative 4th h, 8th h, and 24th h visual analogue scale (VAS) and length of hospital stay.
RESULTS: The median age of the total study population was 36 (27–44) and 66 (84.6%) of them were female. 48 (61.5%) patients were non-smokers, 16 (20.5%) of them were ex-smokers, and 14 (17.9%) patients were active smokers. 24 (30.8%) patients had diabetes mellitus, and 16 (20.5%) had hypertension. There were 39 (50%) patients in the control group and 39 (50%) patients in the study group. The VAS scores at the 4th, 8th, and 24th h postoperatively were significantly lower in the study group (p<0.001, p<0.001, p=0.044, respectively).
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: The use of local anesthesia in the perioperative period of bariatric surgery provides better pain control in the first 24 h. Effective postoperative pain control alone is not determinative of the length of the hospital stay.