Does Bupivacaine Infiltration Reduce Postoperative Pain in Patients With Cesarean Section?

Objective: To compare the effect of bupivacaine wound infiltration with placebo during caesarean section in terms of mean pain scores, analgesic requirement, and duration of hospital stay

Introduction:

Over the last several decades, the rate of caesarean has increased rapidly.According to the data collected from 150 countries, almost 18.6% of the total births occur by caesareansection, with rates ranging from 6% to 27% in different regions. In Egypt and Turkey, the rate of caesarean section is more than 50%. In Pakistan, caesarean section rate was found to be 15.8% in 2013, with a rate of 11.5% in rural areas and 25.6% in the urban population.

Caesarean section is the most commonly performed surgical procedure nowadays and is associated with moderate to severe pain after the surgery. Pain after caesarean section occurs due to inadvertent damage to parietal peritoneum and nerve supply of skin.According to a survey done in America in 2003, it was found that upto 70% of the patients will experience severe pain postoperatively. Severe pain after caesarean section specifically affects mother-baby bonding, lactation, and patient recovery. It also leads to a prolonged hospital stay, reduced mobility, and consequently increasing the risk of thromboembolic disease in the postoperative period. Severe pain aftercaesarean delivery has also been found to be associated with postnatal depression and pain persisting after 8 weeks of delivery.Incaesarean delivery, the provision of effective postoperative analgesia is of key importance to facilitate early ambulation and infant care. It is also very important that the type of analgesia providedis safe, effective,and has minimal side effects for the mother and her baby.

The most appropriate method of analgesia for postoperative pain after caesarean section remains uncertain.Different methods have been used for this purpose. Parenteral opioids are the most commonly used method but associated nausea, vomiting, sedation, and risk of respiratory depression in mother and baby limits its use. Continuous epidural analgesia or patient-controlled analgesia also provide effective analgesia and have fewer adverse effects butare expensive and require special equipment and expertise.Infiltration of local anesthetic into subcutaneous tissue around the incision site has also been thought to relieve pain after caesarean section. Local anesthetic drugslike lignocaine and bupivacaine inhibit nerve impulses from the site of injury thus providing an analgesic effect. However,in this regard, there is no consistent evidence.Some studies show high efficacy while others report no benefit.