Comparison of the Analgesic Effect of Patient-controlled Oxycodone and Fentanyl for Pain Management in Patients Undergoing Colorectal Surgery

Abstract

Oxycodone is a μ-opioid receptor agonist and is generally indicated for the relief of moderate to severe pain. The aim of this study was to compare the analgesic efficacy of patient-controlled oxycodone and fentanyl for postoperative pain in patients undergoing colorectal surgery. Patients scheduled to undergo elective colorectal surgery (n=82) were allocated to receive oxycodone (n=41, concentration of 1 mg-ml-1) or fentanyl (n=41, concentration of 15 mg-ml-1) for postoperative pain management. After the operation, pain using a numerical rating scale (NRS), delivery to demand ratio, infused dose of patient-controlled analgesia Accepted Article This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
(PCA), side effects, and sedation levels were evaluated. Median (2575%) cumulative PCA dose of oxycodone group at 48 h (66.9, 58.483.7 ml) was significantly less than that of fentanyl group (80.0, 63.4103.3 ml, P=0.037). Six hours after surgery, the mean (SD) NRS scores of the oxycodone and fentanyl groups were 6.2 (2.4) and 6.8 (1.9), respectively (P=0.216). The mean equianalgesic potency ratio of oxycodone to fentanyl was 55:1. The groups did not differ in postoperative nausea, vomiting, and level of sedation. Patient-controlled oxycodone provide similar effects for pain relief compared to patient-controlled fentanyl in spite of less cumulative PCA dose. Based on these results, oxycodone can be a useful alternative to fentanyl for PCA in patients after colorectal surgery.