Prevention of Acute Postoperative Pain in Breast Cancer: A Comparison between Opioids versus Ketamine in the Intraoperatory Analgesia

Background Acute postoperative pain (APP) has a high incidence in breast surgery, and opioids are the most commonly used drugs for its management; however, they are not free from systemic side effects, which may increase comorbidity. In the past few years, opioid-free anaesthesia has been favoured with promising results.Methods We conducted a descriptive study including 71 patients who underwent breast cancer surgery. The opioid group ( n  = 41) received fentanyl for induction, remifentanil for maintenance, and rescue morphine before waking up, whereas the ketamine group ( n  = 30) received a ketamine bolus for induction followed by continuous ketamine infusion during surgery. Later, the presence and intensity of pain were registered, using the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS 1–10) for pain, at different times in the recovery room, at 24 hours and at 3 months.Results Administration of ketamine is more effective than opioid use for APP prevention in breast cancer surgery because the ketamine group presented with less pain than the opioid group ( p  < 0.05) at all measured times. When there was pain, patients in the ketamine group gave a lower score to its intensity ( p  < 0.05).Conclusions Ketamine could reduce the incidence of APP in breast cancer surgery, compared to opioids.