Opioid Free Anesthesia in Thoracic Surgery

Opioid-free Anaesthesia Effectiveness in Thoracic Surgery - Objective Measurement With a Skin Conductance Algesimeter: a Randomized Controlled Trial

Proper assessment of pain and adequate analgesia in thoracic surgery is a challenging issue for medical practitioners. Basic aspects of thoracic anaesthesia are general anesthesia, intubation with double lumen tube and separation of lung ventilation, however proper analgesia needs to be standardized. Role of opioids in this clinical setting is reduced due to high risk of respiratory system complications. Instead, use of opioid free anaesthesia and regional anaesthesia is proposed. The aim of this study is to compare the use of opioid anaesthesia with opioid free anaesthesia and paravertebral block.

Inclusion Criteria:

• body mass index between 19-30 kg/m2,
• American Society of Anesthesiology (ASA) physical status between 1 and 3

Exclusion Criteria:

• lack of consent
• significant coagulopathy,
• contraindication to drugs used in protocol
• history of chronic pain,
• chest wall neoplastic invasion,
• previous thoracic spine surgery,
• mental state preventing from effective use of PCA device,
• renal failure (GFR <60 ml/min/1,73 m2)