Postoperative outcome of open donor nephrectomy under epidural analgesia: a descriptive analysis

Patients subjected to open donor nephrectomy with epidural analgesia were analyzed to determine whether there was a relation between catheter placement site and the appearance of complications and satisfactory analgesia and to determine whether this factor had an impact upon recovery and return to preoperative life.

A cohort of 36 open donor nephrectomies were performed with postoperative epidural analgesia. Two groups were analyzed: thoracic (22 patients) and lumbar catheters (14 patients). There was a 72-hour evaluation followed by phone contact. Besides detecting related complications pain was evaluated using a visual analog scale (VAS 0 to 10) in the postanesthesia care unit and at 6, 24, 48 and 72 hours postoperatively. Satisfactory analgesia was defined as a VAS of 3 or less.

In all cases the analgesic solution was composed of bupivacaine 0.125% with an opioid in 97%. Patients showed complications in 72% (26/36); the only significant association was motor blockade in the lumbar group (21% vs 0% in the thoracic, P = .023). Patients had a mean VAS of 2.83 +/- 1.77. There was a larger proportion of pain-free patients (VAS 0) in the thoracic group; in addition, there was no VAS of 10 in this group. Ambulation was resumed in less than 24 hours in 57% of patients, having a mean VAS of 2.1 +/- 1.5 compared with 3.2 +/- 1.6 among those who ambulated after 24 hours (P = .04). There was no association between perioperative pain control and the interval to normal activities.

Without a control group, we can hardly evaluate the impact of epidural analgesia on perioperative outcome. Notwithstanding, the obtained pain control may justify its use in these patients. An important issue is to maintain a low VAS (<3), especially in the first 24 hours, which may make a clinically important difference for early ambulation.