Analgesia by wound infiltration after surgical excision of benign breast lumps

Wound infiltration with bupivacaine provided complete postoperative pain relief in 14 of 19 women undergoing excision biopsy of a benign breast lump under general anaesthesia. Fifteen patients formed a control group in whom the wound was infiltrated with saline. They had inadequate relief of pain despite receiving significantly more opioid analgesia than the bupivacaine group in the postoperative period. The analgesia from bupivacaine usually outlasted the postoperative pain. No adverse reactions were apparent.