The effect of meperidine-impregnated autogenous free fat grafts on postoperative pain management in lumbar disc surgery.

Author(s): Kalkan E, Torun F, Tavlan A, Cengiz SL, Kaya B

Affiliation(s): Department of Neurosurgery, Faculty of Meram Medicine, Selcuk University, Konya, Turkey. erdalkalkan62@yahoo.com

Publication date & source: 2008-04, J Spinal Disord Tech., 21(2):92-5.

Publication type:

STUDY DESIGN: Prospective, randomized, double-blind clinical study. OBJECTIVE: To examine the effect of meperidine-impregnated autogenous free fat grafts (AFFGs) on postoperative pain management after 1-level, first-time lumbar disc surgery. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Uncontrolled postoperative pain impedes patient recovery. Insufficient control of postoperative pain makes it difficult to convince new patients to undergo the lumbar disc surgery. METHODS: Twenty-seven patients scheduled to undergo lumbar microdiscectomy for the first time were divided into 2 groups by a randomized double-blind method. Group 1 patients received a meperidine-impregnated AFFG in the epidural area. Group 2 received the graft without meperidine impregnation. Both groups were asked to use a Patient Controlled Analgesia device to deliver tramadol, and at 1, 4, 12, and 24 hours postoperatively, the amounts of tramadol used and pain severity on the 10-cm Visual Analog Scale (VAS) were recorded. RESULTS: The VAS scores and total tramadol use were both lower in group 1 compared with the control group (P<0.05). The first hour of VAS scores were significantly lower in group 1 than in the control group (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: In this study, we helped patients, who underwent 1-level, first-time lumbar microdiscectomy have a postoperative pain-free and comfortable period by using epidural meperidine-impregnated AFFGs.