A Trial Assessing The Association Between Type Of Local Anesthesia Treatment And Postoperative Pain In Patients In Having Undergone Arrhythmia Surgery

Post-operative Pain

Post-operative pain, pain, pacemaker, defibrillator, post-operative narcotic use, local anesthesia

The goal of the proposed study is to investigate the relationship between two standard treatments, lidocaine or a mixture of lidocaine and bupivacaine, and 1) postoperative pain, and; 2) narcotic use following pacemaker or defibrillator insertion in subjects who undergo arrhythmia surgery at Baylor Heart and Vascular Institute while adjusting for pertinent clinical and/or demographic factors. No control group is necessary.

Patients receiving a pacemaker or defibrillator are currently given Bupivacaine, Lidocaine, or a mixture of the two for local anesthetic treatment (in addition to general anesthesia). The choice of local anesthetic to be used during surgery is based primarily on the differences in time for the anesthetic to take effect and duration thereafter. Lidocaine typically works in less than 1 minute and lasts approximately 45 minutes. Bupivacaine works within 2 to 3 minutes and lasts 4 to 6 hours. Lidocaine is often preferable due to its shorter time of effectiveness. However, its relatively short duration may translate into a higher use of narcotics for pain management during postoperative care - particularly within the first hour following emergence from general anesthesia. Therefore it is conceivable that these patients would have higher levels of pain, higher cost of care related to cost of narcotics, and higher cost of caregiver time required to administer them.

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United States