Wound infiltration with local anaesthetic after abdominal hysterectomy

The study was performed to investigate if wound infiltration with 20 ml of0.5% bupivacaine after abdominal hysterectomy improved analgesia andreduced morphine requirements from a patient-controlled analgesia systemduring the first 6 h after operation. Forty patients undergoing abdominalhysterectomy were allocated randomly to one of two groups. The study wasperformed in a double-blind controlled manner. Morphine requirements in thefirst 6 h after operation were similar in both the control (30.3 mg) andbupivacaine (29.0 mg) groups. Cumulative hourly morphine requirements didnot differ significantly between the two groups. Pain scores assessed byvisual analogue were similar in both groups.