Ambulatory perineural infusion: the patients' perspective

Ambulatory perineural local anesthetic infusion is a relatively new method for providing postoperative analgesia, and many aspects of this technique remain in the domain of conjecture and speculation. This retrospective chart review and survey was undertaken to investigate patients' opinions on various aspects of their ambulatory perineural infusion experience.

Patients who had received an ambulatory perineural infusion from the University of Florida were identified via pharmacy records. Patients were contacted by phone and were asked various questions regarding their experiences and preferences during and after their perineural infusion.

Of 217 patients identified, 215 charts were located and retrieved. Of these, 137 (64%) were successfully contacted and 131 (61%) consented to take part in the survey. More than 97% of patients reported that they felt "safe" during home infusion, that one physician telephone call each night was optimal contact, and that they were comfortable removing the catheter with instructions given over the phone. Only 4% would have preferred to return for catheter removal, and 43% felt that they would have been comfortable with only written instructions for catheter removal.

This investigation suggests that perineural local anesthetic infusion is generally well tolerated by ambulatory patients.