Patient satisfaction with continuous epidural analgesia after major surgical procedures at a Swedish University hospital

Objective The use of epidural analgesia after major surgery is a well-established analgesia method. Epidural analgesia for postoperative pain relief needs to be monitored regularly in order to evaluate patient satisfaction and avoid side effects. However, due to the new available regional techniques, the role of epidural analgesia is being questioned and data about patient satisfaction is lacking. The current study was designed to evaluate patient satisfaction with epidural analgesia, its efficacy and reasons for premature termination of epidural analgesia. Materials and methods We conducted a retrospective survey of all patients who undergone surgery at Uppsala University hospital between October 2012 and January 2014 requiring continuous epidural analgesia for postoperative pain relief. Patients’ satisfaction with epidural analgesia and its effectiveness were evaluated by using paper questionnaire. Results During the study period 579 epidurals were inserted in patients scheduled for vascular, hepatobiliary, esophageal and other major abdominal surgery. The average treatment time was 3.8±1.8 days. Epidural analgesia consisted either of bupivacaine 0.1%+sufentanil 1 μg/ml solution or ropivacaine 0.2% solution. If patient needed opiates during treatment with epidural analgesia, only ropivacaine 0,2% solution was used. 494 (87.9%) patients were satisfied with their analgesia with no difference in satisfaction between sexes being observed. In 62 cases (11.2%) patient controlled analgesia was used on top of epidural analgesia with ropivacaine 0.2% solution, and 50.8% of patients were satisfied in this group. 514 (91.4%) patients were reported as having a good effect, 24 (4.3%) patients reported or were tested to show some effect, and 24 (4.3%) had no effect. No major neurological complications (epidural hematoma or abscess) were observed. Conclusions Our retrospective survey indicates that patients are satisfied with continuous epidural analgesia used in major surgery.