Can intravenous lidocaine decrease postsurgical ileus and shorten hospital stay in elective bowel surgery? A pilot...

Area of Science:

• Anesthesiology
• Surgical Recovery
• Pharmacology

Background:

• Post-surgical pain and prolonged ileus are common complications.
• Local anesthetics like lidocaine possess anti-inflammatory properties.
• Systemic lidocaine's efficacy in reducing surgical recovery time requires investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of systemic lidocaine infusion on surgical pain.
• To assess the effect of lidocaine on the duration of post-surgical ileus.
• To determine if lidocaine influences hospital stay length.

Main Methods:

• A randomized controlled trial involving 22 patients.
• Participants received either a lidocaine or placebo infusion for 24 hours post-surgery.
• Pain scores, time to flatus, time to bowel movement, and discharge day were recorded.

Main Results:

• Lidocaine group reported decreased visual analogue scale pain scores at 24 hours.
• No significant difference in the return of flatus between groups (P = .2802).
• Significant acceleration in the return of bowel movement (P = .0286) and earlier hospital discharge (P = .0277) in the lidocaine group.

Conclusions:

• Systemic lidocaine infusion effectively reduces post-surgical pain.
• Lidocaine administration significantly shortens the time to bowel movement recovery.
• Patients receiving lidocaine experienced earlier hospital discharge, indicating improved surgical recovery.