Multimodal analgesia model to achieve low postoperative opioid requirement following bariatric surgery

To investigate whether a new anaesthesia protocol can reduce opioid use in obese patients following laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy.

This prospective observational case series was conducted in a private hospital in Hong Kong that has been accredited as a Centre of Excellence for Bariatric Surgery. Thirty consecutive patients scheduled for laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy from 1 January 2015 to 31 March 2015 were reviewed.

Of the 30 patients, 14 (46.7%) did not require any opioids for rescue analgesia during the entire postoperative period; six (20.0%) required rescue opioids only in the post-anaesthetic care unit, but not in the surgical ward. The mean postoperative total opioid requirement per patient was 32 mg of pethidine.

With combination of multimodal analgesia with local anaesthetic infiltration, it is possible to avoid giving potent long-acting opioids in anaesthesia for bariatric surgery.