The effect of peritoneal gas drain on postoperative pain in benign gynecologic laparoscopic surgery: a double-blinded randomized controlled trial controlled trial

Chantip Tharanon, Kovit Khampitak Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Srinagarind Hospital, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand Objectives: To compare the effect of peritoneal gas drain on postoperative pain in benign gynecologic laparoscopic surgery and the amount of postoperative analgesic dosage.Methods: The trial included 45 females who had undergone operations during the period December 2014 to October 2015. The patients were block randomized based on operating time (<2 and ≥2 hours). The intervention group (n=23) was treated with postoperative intraperitoneal gas drain and the control group (n=22) was not. The mean difference in scores for shoulder, epigastric, suprapubic, and overall pain at 6, 24, 48 hours postoperatively were statistically evaluated using mixed-effect restricted maximum likelihood regression. The differences in the analgesic drug usage between the groups were also analyzed using a Student’s t-test. The data were divided and analyzed to two subgroups based on operating time (<2 hours, n=20; and ≥2 hours, n=25).Results: The intervention had significantly lower overall pain than the control group, with a mean difference and 95% confidence interval at 6, 24, and 48 hours of 2.59 (1.49–3.69), 2.23 (1.13–3.34), and 1.48 (0.3–2.58), respectively. Correspondingly, analgesic drug dosage was significantly lower in the intervention group (3.52±1.47 mg vs 5.72±2.43 mg, P<0.001). The three largest mean differences in patients with operating times of ≥2 hours were in overall pain, suprapubic pain at 6 hours, and shoulder pain at 24 hours at 3.27 (1.14–5.39), 3.20 (1.11–5.26), and 3.13 (1.00–5.24), respectively. These were greater than the three largest mean differences in the group with operating times of <2 hours, which were 2.81 (1.31–4.29), 2.63 (0.51–4.73), and 2.02 (0.68–3.36). The greatest analgesic drug requirement was in the control group with a longer operative time.Conclusion: The use of intraperitoneal gas drain was shown to reduce overall postoperative pain in benign gynecologic laparoscopic surgery. The effects were higher in patients who had experienced longer operating times. Keywords: laparoscopic surgery, intraperitoneal gas drain, postoperative pain, gynecolog

Incidence of and risk factors for febrile morbidity after laparoscopic-assisted vaginal hysterectomy

Iyara Wongpia, Jadsada Thinkhamrop, Kanok Seejorn, Pranom Buppasiri, Sanguanchoke Luanratanakorn, Teerayut Temtanakitpaisan, Kovit Khampitak Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand Background: The purpose of this study was to assess the incidence of and risk factors for postoperative febrile morbidity after laparoscopic-assisted vaginal hysterectomy (LAVH). Methods: This retrospective study was carried out using the medical records of women with benign gynecologic conditions who underwent LAVH between June 2007 and May 2012 at Srinagarind Hospital in Thailand. Data were collected to assess baseline patient characteristics, occurrence of body temperature ≥38°C on two occasions at least 6 hours apart in the 24 hours following the surgical procedure, and possible risk factors related to postoperative febrile morbidity. Results: In total, 199 women underwent LAVH during the study period. They had a mean age of 46±6 years, a mean body mass index of 24.0±3.2 kg/m2, a mean surgical duration of 134±52 minutes, median estimated blood loss of 200 mL, a mean total hospital stay of 5±2 days, and a mean postoperative hospital stay of 3±2 days. Postoperative febrile morbidity was documented in 31 cases (15.6%). The cause of postoperative fever was unknown in most cases, with only two cases having an identifiable cause. The risk of postoperative febrile morbidity was highest in women treated with more than two antibacterial agents and with a regimen of more than 3 days. Conclusion: This study shows a moderately high rate of febrile morbidity after LAVH, for which the main risk factors were use of multiple drugs and doses for antibiotic prophylaxis. Keywords: laparoscopic-assisted vaginal hysterectomy, febrile morbidity, incidence, risk factor