Anesth Pain Med.  2019 Jul;14(3):364-369. 10.17085/apm.2019.14.3.364.

The effect of gender and age on postoperative pain in laparoscopic cholecystectomy: a prospective observational study

• Chae KL
• Park SY
• Hong JI
• Yim WJ
• Lee SC
• Chung CJ

• KMID: 2454824
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.17085/apm.2019.14.3.364

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Gender and age are known factors that affect postoperative pain. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of gender and age on postoperative pain and analgesic consumptions after laparoscopic cholecystectomy.
METHODS
We studied 240 adult patients (120 female patients and 120 male patients) who underwent elective 3-port laparoscopic cholecystectomy under general anesthesia. The numerical rating scale (NRS) scores were assessed before surgery, when the patient arrived in the recovery room, and at 8, 16, and 24 h after surgery. Analgesic consumptions in the recovery room and at 24 h postoperatively were evaluated. We compared the NRS scores and quantity of analgesics between the gender groups and the age groups (20-45, 46-64, and ≥ 65 years old).
RESULTS
Compared to male patients, female patients had higher NRS scores (6 [5, 7] vs. 5 [4, 6]; P = 0.001) and required a higher dose of fentanyl (0.94 ± 0.47 µg/kg vs. 0.79 ± 0.41 µg/kg; P = 0.011) in the recovery room. The younger female patients (20-45 and 46-64 years old) required a higher dose of fentanyl than those older than 65 years of age in the recovery room.
CONCLUSIONS
Female patients exhibit higher NRS scores and greater consumptions of analgesics than male patients immediately postoperatively. Younger female patients require more analgesics than elderly patients in the recovery room.

Keyword

Age; Gender; Laparoscopic cholecystectomy; Postoperative pain

MeSH Terms

Adult
Aged
Analgesics
Anesthesia, General
Cholecystectomy, Laparoscopic*
Female
Fentanyl
Humans
Male
Observational Study*
Pain, Postoperative*
Prospective Studies*
Recovery Room
Analgesics
Fentanyl

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Patient flow schematic depicting the selection of patients during enrollment and analysis. PCA: patient controlled analgesia.

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  Fig. 2 Graph depicting postoperative numerical rating scale scores at different observation times. Points represent medians. The lower, median, and upper quartiles appear as a box. Minimum and maximum data points are indicated by whiskers. NRS: numerical rating scale. *P = 0.001 compared to male patients.

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