Data shows new pain relief treatment effectively reduces pain, narcotic use, costs.(Brief Article)

2002 JUN 13 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Results from a new study of women who underwent an abdominal hysterectomy showed that 43% of patients using the narcotic-free ON-Q Post-operative Pain Relief System did not need the usual standard-of-care narcotics to relieve pain after surgery, resulting in shorter hospital stays and reduced overall costs.

ON-Q, called the "pain relief ball" by some doctors and patients, is a balloon-like device that provides targeted pain relief after surgery only where the body needs it, automatically delivering a nonnarcotic numbing medication directly into an incision site.

The study, presented by Cleveland Clinic Florida researchers, showed that use of ON-Q allowed nearly all of the patients to return home in about 24 hours. Typically, the hospital stay for abdominal hysterectomy patients is 3 days. Additionally, the data found high patient satisfaction among women treated with ON-Q and a 30% overall cost reduction.

"Our patients who had just received a hysterectomy were comfortably moving around, clearly showing us that they were experiencing real pain relief. Nearly all of them were ready to go home only a day after surgery," said Stephen E. Zimberg, MD, lead investigator in the study and a gynecologist at Cleveland Clinic Florida.

Hysterectomy is the second most frequently performed major surgery for women in the United States, with about half a million procedures performed each year. One in three women have had a hysterectomy by age 60, according to the U.S. Agency for Health Care Policy and Research.

Thirty women without malignant disease who were scheduled to undergo elective abdominal hysterectomy were randomized to receive 0.5% ropivacaine, 0.5% bupivacaine or 2% lidocaine - all local anesthetics - delivered via ON-Q to the surgical site. The system automatically delivered the anesthetic at a rate of two milliliters per hour. Postoperatively, patients were given the option to supplement ON-Q pain treatment with oral pain medication.

Pain questionnaires were administered prior to pain medication and each morning for one week following discharge. Serum sampling for ...