Use of a regional infusion pump to control postoperative pain after an abdominoplasty

This study presents the clinical results for 20 patients who underwent abdominoplasty. A subset of these patients were given a pain relief system that provides continuous infusion of a nonnarcotic medication directly into the surgical wound to reduce postoperative pain. Whereas patients received a pain pump in addition to standard oral/intramuscular pain medication, 10 patients received only the standard oral and intramuscular postoperative pain medications. All 20 patients then were asked to complete an evaluation of their postoperative discomfort and pain. The findings show a significant reduction in postoperative pain with the use of the ambulatory pain pump. The simplicity of installing and running the pump and the benefits obtained, including early ambulation and less pain as well as reduced need and strength of narcotic medications lead the authors to believe that the implementation of this pain control technology soon will become widespread in their specialty. The study indicates that patients require less sedation and get out of bed sooner with this device, thereby reducing the incidence of deep venous thrombosis, pulmonary emboli, and narcotic-dependency.