Spinal analgesia with continuous local wound infusion vs thoracic epidural analgesia after open pancreaticoduodenectomy

The current gold standard for postoperative analgesia following a pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) is a thoracic epidural analgesia (TEA). Spinal analgesia with continuous wound infusion (CWI) of local anaesthetic is an emerging alternative modality. This non-inferiority study aimed to compare CWI with spinal analgesia to TEA and assess its impact on clinical outcomes.

A retrospective observational analysis of patients undergoing open pancreatoduodenectomy through a midline laparotomy. A total of 74 patients were included in the study forming two groups: CWI (n = 33) and TEA (n = 41).

TEA resulted in lower median pain scores at rest (p = 0.002) and with coughing (p = 0.005) on postoperative day 2. CWI was non-inferior to TEA for all other pain outcomes measures from days 0–5. Patients in the CWI group had a shorter time to first bowel motion (p = 0.001), commencement of a liquid diet (p = 0.04), earlier removal of nasogastric tube (p = 0.005), abdominal drain (p = 0.003) and indwelling catheter (p < 0.001). Analgesic failure and postoperative nausea and vomiting were also less frequent (p = 0.001 and p < 0.001 respectively).

Local CWI with spinal analgesia was non-inferior to TEA for pain management in open pancreaticoduodenectomy. CWI demonstrated advantages in measures associated with enhanced recovery after surgery programs without disadvantages in terms of analgesia requirements.