[The effects of postoperative continuous epidural analgesia on the early recovery from lower abdominal surgery]

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of continuous epidural analgesia (CEA) on the incidence of postoperative complications and the early recovery after lower abdominal surgery. A total of 109 patients who had received elective lower abdominal surgery were investigated retrospectively by separating them into two groups. Compared to 35 patients who had received standard analgesic techniques without epidural analgesia, 74 patients who had been administered CEA with buprenorphine, mepivacaine and droperidol for 24 hrs after surgery could sit on the bed significantly earlier. But the patients with CEA could not stand on the floor and could not walk significantly earlier than the patients without CEA. The overall postoperative complication rate was not significantly different between the patients with and without CEA. These results show that postoperative CEA exerts a beneficial effects on the early recovery after the lower abdominal surgery, but the effect is not so strong as in upper abdominal surgery group. The results also suggest that CEA does not decrease the incidence of postoperative complications.