Pain and mobility after inguinal herniorrhaphy: ineffectiveness of subcutaneous bupivacaine

We studied pain and mobility in 101 men undergoing elective unilateral inguinal herniorrhaphy. Subcutaneous infusion of 0.5 per cent bupivacaine via a fine catheter was used as an adjunct to conventional analgesia in half of the patients. This had no effect on the perception of pain measured at 8 and 24 h by visual linear analogue, nor on the analgesics requested by the patients. The walking ability of all patients was significantly impaired 24 h postoperatively, but again bupivacaine conferred no benefit. Organisms were cultured from 12.5 per cent of the catheters.