Objective: To investigate whether a new anaesthesia protocol can reduce opioid use in obese patients following laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy.
Methods: This prospective observational case series was conducted in a private hospital in Hong Kong that has been accredited as a Centre of Excellence for Bariatric Surgery. Thirty consecutive patients scheduled for laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy from 1 January 2015 to 31 March 2015 were reviewed.
Results: Of the 30 patients, 14 (46.7%) did not require any opioids for rescue analgesia during the entire postoperative period; six (20.0%) required rescue opioids only in the post-anaesthetic care unit, but not in the surgical ward. The mean postoperative total opioid requirement per patient was 32 mg of pethidine.
Conclusion: With combination of multimodal analgesia with local anaesthetic infiltration, it is possible to avoid giving potent long-acting opioids in anaesthesia for bariatric surgery.
Keywords: Analgesics, opioid; Bariatric surgery.