[Postoperative analgesic effects of epidural bolus administration of bupivacaine and morphine in patients after vaginal hysterectomy and vaginoplasty].

This study was conducted to evaluate the postoperative analgesic effects of epidural bolus administration of bupivacaine and morphine in patients after vaginal hysterectomy and vaginoplasty. A total of 100 patients who had received the elective vaginal hysterectomy and vaginoplasty were investigated retrospectively by separating them into two groups. Fifty patients who had received epidural analgesics (E group) showed significantly lower pain scores for 12 hrs after the surgery compared with 50 patients who had received intramuscular buprenorphine hydrochloride (C group). The patients in E group needed significantly less supplemental analgesics than those in C group for 2 hrs after the operation. The incidence of side effects was not significantly different between the two groups. But the incidence of postoperative complications was significantly lower in the patients in E group than those in C group. These results show that epidural bolus administration of bupivacaine and morphine is effective for postoperative pain relief and decreases the incidence of postoperative complications after vaginal hysterectomy and vaginoplasty.