Abstract ID: A23

Abstract Title: Analgesic Efficacy of Intrapleural Catheters versus Placebo on Postoperative Pain Control: A Systematic Review/Meta-analysis

Authors: Hobelmann J¹, Hurley R², Bolka J³, Wu C⁴
The Johns Hopkins University Baltimore MD USA¹, The Johns Hopkins University Baltimore MD ², The Johns Hopkins University Baltimore MD ³, The Johns Hopkins University Baltimore MD ⁴
Poster Type: Poster

ABSTRACT BODY

Introduction:
Intrapleural analgesia is an accepted technique for the management of postoperative analgesia; however, the extent of the overall analgesic efficacy of this technique is unclear. Because of some of the inconsistencies in the available data, we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials to determine the analgesic efficacy of intrapleural analgesia versus placebo.
Materials and Methods:
We searched the National Library of Medicine's PubMed database for the time period 1966 to October, 2005 for textwords related to intrapleural analgesia. To be included in this meta-analysis, the use of intrapleural analgesia had to be compared to placebo. Other inclusion criteria included trials that were randomized, evaluated only adult patients, and where pain scores were available in a format which could be analyzed in a meta-analysis. Data was extracted from the manuscript including figures as necessary. A random effects model was used. No minimum sample sizes were used. All statistical analyses (i.e., determination of the pooled estimate, test for heterogeneity) were performed with RevMan 4.2.7 (The Cochrane Collaboration, 2004)
Results:
After limiting this search to the English language and human subjects, our search resulted in 63 abstracts, the full article of each which was then reviewed. A total of 8 trials (141 subjects received intrapleural analgesia; 134 subjects received saline placebo) met all inclusion criteria. Intrapleural catheters did not provide significantly superior analgesia versus placebo (Weighted mean difference of -8.17; 95% Confidence interval: -17.76, 1.43).
Discussion:
Analyzing data from available randomized controlled trials, we found that intrapleural analgesia provided equivalent analgesia compared to placebo although there are a number of methodology issues present in our analysis.

ATTACHED FILES

Reg Anesth Pain Med 2005; 30(3):A23