Cognition and Sociodemographic Determinants for Effective Pain Control in Patients with Cancer Pain: a Cross-sectional Survey in China

This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate cancer patients'cognitive level of pain control and to evaluate the patient-related factors or barriers to effective cancer pain management in China.In seven tertiary hospitals across China,372 patients experiencing cancer pain were surveyed through a self-designed questionnaire to assess the factors associated with effective pain control.Patients'demographic data and pain control-related factors were recorded.Cluster sampling and binary logistic regression models were used to investigate the association between predictive factors and effective pain control.The survey showed that the majority of the patients were more than 45 years old(76.3%),and 64.4%had an average annual income of more than 20000 RMB.One-third of the patients suffered from cancer pain for more than 3 months,and 75.1%received professional guidance during medication.The barriers to pain control for patients included preference to enduring pain and refusing analgesics(62.9%),negligence towards drug usage(28.5%),concerns about the addiction(48.2%)and adverse reaction(56.4%).The average annual family income,pro fessional guidance,knowledge of pain medication,adherence to analgesics,and concerns about addiction to analgesics were significantly correlated to the effect of patients'pain control.The study presents major barriers to optimal pain control among patients with cancer in China.Our findings suggest that educational programs and medical insurance reimbursement support from the government are urgently needed to overcome the cognitive barriers toward effective pain management and to relieve the economic burden among patients with cancer pain in China.

Virtual Reality in Surgery: Double Blind, Randomized Clinical Trial of Pain Control and Augmented Satisfaction

Introduction: Virtual reality (VR) utilizing a head-mounted display allows viewers to immerse themselves in a virtual environment. This technology may be useful in attenuating pain and anxiety and reducing patient subjective stress as well as objective physiological increase in heart rate and blood pressure. Aside from the improved experience, physiological stress is reduced which results in improved patient outcomes. Patients and methods: Eligible participants were all adults aged 18 or over who had non craniofacial lesions requiring minor surgery. A total of 99 adult patients who were capable of independent consent were randomized to receive a virtual reality experience (VR) or standard music distraction (no VR). Patients were recruited for the study during their office visit when scheduling minor procedure surgery. This was a single center, double-blind, controlled study conducted at Guthrie Clinic Robert Packer Hospital in Sayre, Pennsylvania between March 2019 to January 2020 (pre-pandemic). Ethics approval for this study was obtained from the Institutional Review Board of the Guthrie Clinic. Results: The change in systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and heart rate (HR) significantly decreased from pre-procedure to mid-procedure in the VR group compared with standard. Herein our results are presented. Conclusions: Reductions in intraprocedural SBP, DBP and HR can be achieved when using VR. Although subjective reporting of pain and anxiety were not different between groups, VR significantly improves patient satisfaction compared with non VR standards.

Current protocol to achieve dental movement acceleration and pain control with Photo-biomodulation

When designing a study on dental movement acceleration or pain control during orthodontic treatment,it is crucial to consider effective parameters.The objective of this editorial is to compile the most effective parameters supported by evidence that should be considered in future studies to achieve complete parameter homogenization.The protocol currently recommended to homogenize the parameters and facilitate the development of further meta-analysis in terms of acceleration of movement and pain control in orthodontics is Wavelength:810 nm,2.2 J per surface,0.1 W in continuous mode/0.1 W average power in a superpulsed,sweeping movement,1mm from the mucosa,22 seconds along the vestibular surface and 22 seconds along the lingual surface,the recommended speed of movement is 2 mm/sec,1 application during each orthodontic control,to achieve dental movement acceleration and repeat the dose at 24 h to ensure pain elimination.The energy density and power density will depend on the spot size used in the equipment and the distance from the mucosa.It will strengthen the evidence of photobiomodulation as the best therapy to accelerate tooth movement and at the same time control the pain produced by orthodontic treatments.

Perioperative pain control after total knee arthroplasty: An evidence based review of the role of peripheral nerve blocks

Over the last decades,the number of total knee arthroplasty procedures performed in the United States has been increasing dramatically.This very successful intervention,however,is associated with significant postoperative pain,and adequate postoperative analgesia is mandatory in order to allow for successful rehabilitation and recovery.The use of regional anesthesia and peripheral nerve blocks has facilitated and improved this goal.Many different approaches and techniques for peripheral nerve blockades,either landmark or,more recently,ultrasound guided have been described over the last decades.This includes but is not restricted to techniques discussed in this review.The introduction of ultrasound has improved many approaches to peripheral nerves either in success rate and/or time to block.Moreover,ultrasound has enhanced the safety of peripheral nerve blocks due to immediate needle visualization and as consequence needle guidance during the block.In contrast to patient controlled analgesia using opioids,patients with a regional anesthetic technique suffer from fewer adverse events and show higher patient satisfaction;this is important as hospital rank-ings and advertisement have become more common worldwide and many patients use these factors in order to choose a certain institution for a specific procedure.This review provides a short overview of currently used regional anesthetic and analgesic techniques focusing on related implications,considerations and outcomes.

A randomized double blind controlled trial comparing Ibuprofen versus Ibuprofen plus Acetaminophen plus Caffeine for pain control after impacted third molar surgery

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like Ibupro- fen alleviate mild to moderate postoperative pain caused by the third molar extractions. Moreover, Acetaminophen is a non-opioid analgesic with anti-pyretic properties, effective in relieving mild to moderate pain. On the other hand, recent studies have demonstrated that Caffeine also acts as an analgesic adjuvant when combined with Acetaminophen, Aspirin, or their mixture. The objective of study is to compare the efficacy of a combination of Ibuprofen 200 mg and Acetaminophen 325 mg plus Caffeine 40 mg with Ibuprofen 400 mg alone for relieving the pain after surgical removal of impacted mandibular third molar. 80 adult patients (56 females, 24 males) were randomly placed into two groups. Preoperative pain recorded prior to the surgery and compare with patients’ pain after the operation. According to findings, there was no significant relationship between preoperative and postoperative pain (P value > 0.05) and also between surgical trauma and postoperative pain (P value > 0.05). The mean pain showed a slight numerical superiority for the group which used Ibu-profen plus Acetaminophen plus Caffeine especially 3hours after surgery, but there was no significant difference between the two groups (P value = 0.073). In conclusion, combination of Ibuprofen plus aceta-minophen plus caffeine does not offer any clinical advantages compared with Ibuprofen for alleviating acute postoperative pain after third molar surgeries.

RANDOMIZED CONTROL STUDY ON DEPRESSION INDUCED BY CHRONIC PAIN TREATED WITH ACUPUNCTURE

Objective To study and verify the efficacy of acupuncture on depression caused by chronic pain and to further analyze the advantages of acupuncture. Methods According to random number table, the cases were randomized into experimental group and western medicine group, treated with acupuncture and antidepression drug （deanxit） respectively. Hamilton Depressive Scale （HAMD） and Visual Analogue Scale （VAS） were adopted for the evaluation before treatment and in the 1, 2 and 4 weeks after treatment in two groups successively. Results ① Very significant differences had been achieved on the comparisons of HAMD, VAS and HAMD reducing rate before and after treatment in experimental group （P 〈 0.01）. Very significant differences had been achieved in the comparisons of HAMD, VAS and HAMD reducing rate before and after treatment in western medicine group （P 〈 0.01 ）. ③Significant differences in HAMD reducing rate^＊ and VAS score^＊ ＊ had been achieved in the comparison between experiment group and western medicine group 1 week after treatment （^＊ P〈0.01, ^＊ ＊ P〈0.05）. ④ The significant differences had not been received in HAMD, VAS score and HAMD reducing rate in 2 and 4 weeks after treatment in the comparison between experimental group and western medicine group （P 〉0.05）. ⑤ No any harmful effect happened in experimental group after treatment, but it happened in western medicine group. Conclusion Both acupuncture and deanxit have achieved the definite therapeutic effects on depression caused by chronic pain, with similar efficacy. But the effects of acupuncture are obtained more quickly. In comparison of western medicine, acupuncture has no side and harmful effect. Additionally, acupuncture applies the multi-targeting and holistic modulation to the whole body.

Preoperative Pain Management of Patients with Hip Fractures: Blind Fascia Iliaca Compartment Block Compared to Ultrasound Guided Femoral Nerve Block—A Randomized Controlled Trial

Introduction: Blind fascia iliaca compartment block (FICB) and ultrasound guided femoral nerve block (FNB) are two types of peripheral nerve blocks, commonly used in preoperative pain management in patients with hip fractures in Danish emergency departments. The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy in pain management of these two types of peripheral nerve blocks in the preoperative period in patients with hip fractures. Method: We performed a randomized controlled study. The primary outcome was the proportion of patients with a numeric rating scale (NRS) pain score equal to three or less at rest and after passive leg raise test three hours after block administration. Results: A total of 88 patients were included in the study and 67 patients in the statistical analysis with 33 in the FICB group and 34 in the FNB group. The results showed a significant reduction in the proportion of patients with an NRS score higher than three, three hours after administration of either FICB or FNB compared to at inclusion. There was no significant difference in pain scores between patients receiving FICB versus patients receiving FNB at rest or after passive leg raise (p = 0.25 and p = 0.86, respectively). Conclusion: Blind FICB and ultrasound guided FNB were effective in preoperative pain management in patients with hip fractures. The results showed that the two types of peripheral nerve blocks were equally efficient in providing pain management in the preoperative period.

Pain management in acute musculoskeletal injury: Effect of opioid vs nonopioid medications

BACKGROUND The use of opioids for pain is linked to an increased risk of developing opioid use disorder,and has resulted in the emergence of the opioid crisis over the last few years.AIM The systematic review question is“How does the use of opioid medications in pain management,compared with non-opioid medications,affect pain intensity over the short,intermediate,and long-term in adults with acute traumatic pain?”.METHODS The protocol was prospectively registered on the International Prospective Re-gister of Systematic Reviews:CRD42021279639.Medline and Google Scholar were electronically searched for controlled peer-reviewed studies published in full,with the PICO framework:P:Adult patients with traumatic injuries,I:Opioid medications,C:Non-opioid medi-cations,O:A minimum clinically important difference(MCID)in pain.RESULTS After full-text screening,we included 14 studies in the qualitative synthesis.Of these 14 studies,12 were rando-mized clinical trials(RCTs)and 2 were pseudo-RCTs with a total of 2347 patients enrolled.There was heteroge-neity in both medication utilized and outcome in these studies;only two studies were homogeneous regarding the type of study conducted,the opioid used,its comparator,and the outcome explored.The MCID was evaluated in 8 studies,while in 6 studies,any measured pain reduction was considered as an outcome.In 11 cases,the setting of care was the Emergency Department;in 2 cases,care occurred out-of-hospital;and in one case,the setting was not well-specified.The included studies were found to have a low-moderate risk of bias.CONCLUSION Non-opioids can be considered an alternative to opioids for short-term pain management of acute musculoskeletal injury.Intravenous ketamine may cause more adverse events than other routes of administration.

Control of pain with topical plant medicines

Pain is normally treated with oral nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents and opioids. These drugs are dangerous and are responsible for many hospitalizations and deaths. It is much safer to use topical preparations made from plants to treat pain, even severe pain. Topical preparations must contain compounds that penetrate the skin, inhibit pain receptors such as transient receptor potential cation channels and cyclooxygenase-2, to relieve pain. Inhibition of pain in the skin disrupts the pain cycle and avoids exposure of internal organs to large amounts of toxic compounds. Use of topical pain relievers has the potential to save many lives, decrease medical costs and improve therapy.

Risk Factors of Low Back Pain among the Chinese Occupational Population:A Case-control Study

Objective To explore the risk factors of low back pain among the Chinese occupational population in several major industries. Methods A total of 7200 subjects （3600 cases and 3600 controls） were randomly sampled from a cross-sectional study, and they were investigated for individual and occupational factors of low back pain. The potential risk factors were first selected by using chi-square tests. Secondly, collinearity diagnosis proceeded by using the Kendall＇s rank correlation. Finally, binary logistic regression model was used for multi-factor analysis. Results Collinearity diagnosis showed that there was a severe collinearity problem among the potential risk factors of low back pain. Logistic regression model included 20 variables with statistical significance. Bending neck forward or holding neck in a forward posturefor long periods （0R=1.408） was the most important risk factor inducing low back pain in this study, followed by bending heavily with the trunk （0R=1.402）, carrying out identical work almost for the whole day （0R=1.340）. Additionally, suHicient normal break was a protective factor of low back pain. Conclusion Low back pain among the Chinese occupational population was associated with body height, occupation, work organization, physical work, working posture, and others. All these risk factors could be regarded as the indicators of low back pain, and some relevant preventive measures should be taken to reduce low back pain risk.

Effect of Knee Valgus Angle during Single Leg Squat and Horizontal Hop for Distance in Patients with Patellofemoral Pain and Controls

Background: Patellofemoral pain (PFP) is considered one of the most common dysfunctions of the lower extremities. Faulty lower limb mechanics and increased of knee valgus on loaded tasks are believed to play an important role in the development of PFP. Objective: To figure out if male PFP patients during single leg horizontal hop for distance and squat with greater knee valgus than controls, and if the nature of the task changes the angles of knee valgus. Methods: Twenty males with unilateral PFP formed the patient group and forty-five asymptomatic males formed the control group. Two dimensional (2-D) frontal plane projection angle (FPPA) was used during single leg squatting and horizontal hop for distance tasks. Results: For the single leg squat, the mean of 6.96°, 9.80°, 15.04° was reported in the control, PFP asymptomatic knee, and PFP symptomatic knee, respectively. For the single leg horizontal hop for distance, the mean of 11.63°, 13.72°, 19.17° was reported in the control, PFP asymptomatic knee, and PFP symptomatic knee, respectively. These differences were significant (p < 0.002) for both tasks. Conclusions: Patients with PFP represented with greater knee valgus angle than what was found in either their asymptomatic limb or in the control group.

Quality Control of Postoperative Acute Pain Service

To establish an effective method of continuous quality control of acute pain service, a retrospective study on incident reporting during postoperative anal-gesia period was conducted. Incidents were reported and analyzed in 1507 patients who received epidural postoperative analgesia, and the results of satisfaction of pain relief was compared with those of incident analysis. In this study, an incident was defined as any factor that might or had affected patient's safety during analgesia period. Our results showed that 1203 incidents were reported in 641 of 1507 patients, of which 122 incidents were critical. 78. 3 % of all incidents were detect-ed by acute pain service stuff. The most common incidents included complica-tions, insufficient analgesia and problems with delivery circuits. Human factors were involved in 28. 9 % of the incidents, most being associated with technical failure due to unskillfu1ness, poor communications between APS stuff and pa-tients and lack of cooperation with surgeons and nurses. The general satisfactionrate of the patients was 90. 8 %. There was a very significant difference between the satisfaction of the patients who suffered from incidents and who did not (P<t0.001). It is concluded that incidents affect the satisfaction of the patients who received postoperative pain relief. Incident reporting is a more effective method for quality control of acute pain service.

Clinical Trial Protocol: Randomized Controlled Trial of Cancer Pain Monitoring System (CAPAMOS) in Patients with Advanced Cancer

Purpose: This randomized controlled trial (RCT) protocol was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of the Cancer Pain Monitoring System (CAPAMOS), a telenursing system designed to alleviate pain in ambulatory patients with advanced cancer. Methods: The study design involved a randomized controlled trial consisting of an intervention group using CAPAMOS and a control group that received usual care. At the time of enrollment, both groups will be given a questionnaire regarding issues, such as concerns related to cancer pain and self-management of opioid medication. Patients will then receive pain relief education based on the results of the questionnaire. Subjects in the control group will receive a pain diary and pain-relief pamphlet that acts as an educational tool. They could also call the outpatient clinic if they wanted to ask for a nursing consultation. The intervention group will be able to use CAPAMOS to manage their pain and receive video consultation with a telenurse, who is an oncology nursing specialist. Educational tools will be built into CAPAMOS. The study will be conducted for one month. The primary endpoint of this study was to calculate the Japanese Brief Pain Inventory score. The secondary endpoints were to assess the opioid medication self-management, Barriers Questionnaire, Japanese EuroQol 5-dimensions 5-level, and economic evaluation. Assessment items will be evaluated at registration and 2 and 4 weeks after registration. Conclusions: A RCT based on this protocol is expected to validate the efficacy of telenursing using CAPAMOS in patients with advanced cancer and pain.

Comparing the Effectiveness of Motor Control Exercises versus Mckenzie Exercises for Work Related Back Pain

Background: Work related low back pain has been identified as a one of the most costly disorders among the worldwide working population. This condition was highly prevalent that approximately 85% patients having back pain were brought on by prolonged sitting. With the rapid development of modern technology, sitting has now become the most common posture in today’s work- place. Idea of using motor control learning approach provides the optimal control and coordination of the spine. The McKenzie evaluation was received using repeated movements and sustained positions. Therefore high quality randomized clinical trial was required to compare the effectiveness of these treatments for work related low back pain. Objectives: To compare the effectiveness of motor control exercises and McKenzie exercises in reducing pain and disability in work related low back pain. Method: The study included 40 subjects with work related low back pain due to prolonged sitting. They were randomly allocated into two groups (Group A and Group B). Group A was treated with motor control exercises and group B was treated with McKenzie exercises for 4 weeks. Results: Both the groups have shown statically significant improvement in vas with p < 0.0001 and ODI with p < 0.0001. When the comparison was done after the 4 weeks, the percentage of improvement in group A was much higher than Group B. Conclusion: The study concluded that motor control exercises have shown statically and clinically significant improvement in reducing pain and disability when compared to McKenzie exercises among work related low back pain subjects.

神经肌肉训练对膝骨关节炎患者疼痛和功能影响的Meta分析

目的:神经肌肉训练是近年来较新的一种综合康复治疗方法,对膝骨关节炎的疗效尚存在争议。此次研究通过系统Meta分析评价神经肌肉训练治疗膝骨关节炎的临床疗效。方法:全面检索中国知网、维普、万方、中国生物医学文献数据库、PubMed、Web of Science、Cochrane Library、EBSCO和Embase文献数据库中有关神经肌肉训练治疗膝骨关节炎的临床随机对照试验,时间从各数据库建库至2023年10月,神经肌肉训练组(试验组)使用神经肌肉训练或以神经肌肉训练为主要干预方式;对照组为空白组或采用常规康复治疗。结局指标包括西安大略和麦克马斯特大学骨关节炎指数评分(The Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index,WOMAC)、行走计时、膝关节稳定性、30 s内膝关节最大弯曲次数。采用Cochrane偏倚风险评估工具和物理治疗证据数据库量表确定纳入文献质量,使用RevMan5.4软件进行Meta分析。结果:共纳入11项临床随机对照试验,纳入样本量628例。Meta分析结果显示:①WOMAC疼痛评分试验组优于对照组(SMD=0.38,95%CI:0.08-0.69,P=0.01);②膝关节稳定性和30s内膝关节最大弯曲次数试验组均优于对照组(膝关节稳定性:SMD=0.57,95%CI:0.23-0.92,P=0.001;30 s内膝关节最大弯曲次数:SMD=0.35,95%CI:0.05-0.65,P=0.02);两组均可提高膝骨关节炎患者行走速度,改善行走能力,但差异无显著性意义(行走计时:SMD=-0.22,95%CI:-0.48-0.03,P=0.09);③WOMAC身体功能评分试验组优于对照组(SMD=-0.79,95%CI:-1.30至-0.28,P=0.002)。结论:神经肌肉训练可以有效改善膝骨关节炎患者的疼痛,增强膝关节稳定性,促进功能恢复,但仍需要更多高质量随机对照试验进一步研究证实。

Comparing Epidural Analgesia and ON-Q Infiltrating Catheters for Pain Management after Hepatic Resection

Background and Objectives: Pain control after hepatic resection presents unique challenges as subcostal incisions, rib retraction, and diaphragmatic irritation can lead to significant pain. Both epidural analgesia and ON-Q catheters have been used for postoperative pain management after hepatic surgery, but to our knowledge have not been directly compared. Methods: The records of 143 patient between the ages 18 and 70 were reviewed who underwent hepatic resection by a single surgeon. Patients were categorized according to method of postoperative pain control. Average pain scores for both study groups were collected until POD#3. Results: Demographic data and the length of surgery were similar between the groups (all P > 0.05). On the day of surgery and POD#1, average pain scores for the epidural group were lower than the ON-Q group (P 0.0001 and P = 0.0008 respectively). There was no difference in pain scores on POD #2 (P = 0.2369) or POD #3 (P = 0.2289). Conclusions: Epidural analgesia provides superior pain control on the day of surgery and POD#1 when compared to On-Q catheter with IV PCA. There was no difference in pain scores on POD#2 or POD#3. Future prospective randomized trials comparing these analgesic methods will be required to further evaluate enhanced recovery after hepatic surgery.

The Efficacy and Safety of Continuous Popliteal Sciatic Nerve Block for the Relief of Pain Associated with Critical Limb Ischemia: A Retrospective Study

Background: Patients with critical limb ischemia (CLI) often suffer from severe pain. A continuous peripheral nerve block has been shown to provide effective analgesia for patients having lower limb surgery. We have been administering continuous sciatic nerve block (CSNB) for patients with CLI whose pain could not be relieved by other analgesic tools. The aim of this retrospective study was to investigate the efficacy and safety of CSNB for patients with CLI. Method: We retrospectively investigated 99 patients who received CSNB for the relief of severe pain in the lower limb associated with CLI. Patient demographics, neurological history, complications, and subjective evaluation of the effectiveness of CSNB were investigated from their clinical records. The distal tips of 108 catheters were cultured. Result: One hundred and seventy-two catheters were placed in 99 patients. More than 90% of the patients enjoyed considerable relief of severe pain. The analgesic effect of CSNB was greater in patients with older age and hemodialysis. Thirty-one catheters had positive bacterial colonization. However, no severe infectious complication was found. There was no relationship between the co-existence of diabetes and positive bacterial colonization. We encountered a patient with ASO and diabetes who suffered from persistent motor weakness and hypesthesia even after 3 months of CSNB placement. Conclusions: CSNB provided good pain control for patients with severe pain caused by CLI. Although catheters were frequently found to be colonized, infection at the catheter site was self-limiting even in patients with diabetes.

Redundant prepuce increases the odds of chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome （CP/CPPS）

Some published evidence has revealed that the dendritic cells can interact with pathogens that exist in the inner foreskin. This information provides a new vision that pathogens could play a role through the redundant prepuce; numerous studies have failed to find pathogens in prostates of patients who had chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome （CP/CPPS）. However, no studies have reported an association between foreskin length and CP/CPPS. Hence, we conducted a retrospective case-control study of clinical data from 322 CP/CPPS patients （case group） and 341 nonCP/CPPS patients （control group）. Demographic characteristics, lifestyle factors, and foreskin lengths were collected and analyzed. Multivariate logistic regression was adopted to calculate the odds of foreskin length for CP/CPPS. According to the multivariate logistic regression results, when the foreskin length covered up more than half of the glans penis, the odds for CP/CPPS were higher with an increased foreskin （odds ratio （OR）： 1.66, 95% confidence interval （CI）： 1.04-2.66）. In comparison, when the glans penis was completely covered by the foreskin, the OR value increased to 1.86 （95% CI, 1.2-2.88）. The study results showed an association between foreskin length and the odds of CP/CPPS. When the foreskin length covered up more than half of the glans penis, there were greater odds for CP/CPPS. This possible mechanism might result from interaction between pathogens and DCs in the inner foreskin, consequently activating T-cells to mediate allergic inflammation in the prostate and producing the autoimmunizations causing CP/CPPS.

Low Dose Ketamine Used for Acute Pain Management in the Emergency Department

The use of opioid analgesics has created an opioid addiction epidemic in the United States and around the world. One of the main responsibilities of the emergency department is to address acute pain. In this paper we examine the use of low dose ketamine as a safe substitute for opioid analgesics. Types of pain are identified using prior established taxonomy, followed by discussing types of management and treatments. The opioid epidemic and its societal implications are considered. We also examine the side effects of ketamine and the use of ketamine as an adjunct to analgesics used for pain control. Recommendations and considerations for the use of ketamine are suggested, and a low dose ketamine administration sample hospital policy is reviewed.

Effectiveness and safety of continuous wound infiltrationfor postoperative pain management after open gastrectomy

AIM: To prospectively evaluate the effectiveness and safety of continuous wound infiltration(CWI) for pain management after open gastrectomy. METHODS: Seventy-five adult patients with American Society of Anesthesiologists(ASA) Physical Status Classification System(ASA) grade 1-3 undergoing open gastrectomy were randomized to three groups. Group 1 patients received CWI with 0.3% ropivacaine(group CWI). Group 2 patients received 0.5 mg/m L morphine intravenously by a patient-controlled analgesia pump(PCIA)(group PCIA). Group 3 patients received epidural analgesia(EA) with 0.12% ropivacaine and 20 μg/m L morphine with an infusion at 6-8 m L/h for 48 h(group EA). A standard general anesthetic technique was used for all three groups. Rescue analgesia(2 mg bolus of morphine, intravenous) was given when the visual analogue scale(VAS) score was ≥ 4. The outcomes measured over 48 h after the operation were VAS scores both at rest and during mobilization, total morphine consumption, relative side effects, and basic vital signs. Further results including time to extubation, recovery of bowel function, surgical wound healing,mean length of hospitalization after surgery, and the patient's satisfaction were also recorded.RESULTS: All three groups had similar VAS scores during the first 48 h after surgery. Group CWI and group EA, compared with group PCIA, had lower morphine consumption(P < 0.001), less postoperative nausea and vomiting(1.20 ± 0.41 vs 1.96 ± 0.67, 1.32 ± 0.56 vs 1.96 ± 0.67, respectively, P < 0.001), earlier extubation(16.56 ± 5.24 min vs 19.76 ± 5.75 min, P < 0.05, 15.48 ± 4.59 min vs 19.76 ± 5.75 min, P < 0.01), and earlier recovery of bowel function(2.96 ± 1.17 d vs 3.60 ± 1.04 d, 2.80 ± 1.38 d vs 3.60 ± 1.04 d, respectively, P < 0.05). The mean length of hospitalization after surgery was reduced in groups CWI(8.20 ± 2.58 d vs 10.08 ± 3.15 d, P < 0.05) and EA(7.96 ± 2.30 d vs 10.08 ± 3.15 d, P < 0.01) compared with group PCIA. All three groups had similar patient satisfaction and wound healing, but group PCIA was prone to higher sedation scores when compared with groups CWI and EA, especially during the first 12 h after surgery. Group EA had a lower mean arterial pressure within the first postoperative 12 h compared with the other two groups.CONCLUSION : CWI with ropivacaine yields a satisfactory analgesic effect within the first 48 h after open gastrectomy, with lower morphine consumption and accelerated recovery.