Nalbuphine in Postoperative Analgesia

Overview

Nalbuphine hydrochloride (Nubain ® , 20 mg) was administered intramusculary for postoperative pain control to thirty three patients scheduled foropen cholecystectomy. Quality and duration of analgesia, with adverse effects were evaluated for two subsequent doses of nalbuphine. First dose wasadministered at the end of surgery, the other dose as requested by the patient. Besides one skin allergic reaction there were not observed any seriousadverse effects. Analgesia was not adequate in four and two patients after the first and second dose, respectively. The average duration of analgesiawas 3,4 hours and 4,5 hours after the first and second dose, respectively. The principle side effect was sedation pronounced in 95% of patients, in 41%assessed as deep sedation (GCS 10–12). In 15% of patients there was observed postoperative nausea and vomiting, in one patient there was observeda psychomotoric distress. Nalbuphine can be safely used for moderate to severe pain control without the risk of respiratory or circulatory depression.

Key words:
postoperative analgesia – nalbuphine