Skip to main content
NCBI home page
British Medical Journal (Clinical Research Ed.) logoLink to British Medical Journal (Clinical Research Ed.)
. 1981 Oct 10;283(6297):945–948. doi: 10.1136/bmj.283.6297.945

Improved pain relief after thoracotomy: use of cryoprobe and morphine infusion.

I A Orr, D J Keenan, J W Dundee
PMCID: PMC1507209  PMID: 6793183

Abstract

In a randomised controlled trial carried out during the first to days after thoracotomy patients who had had intercostal nerves frozen with a cryoprobe or were given morphine by continuous intravenous infusion had significant less pain at rest than patients given intramuscular morphine. Differences between the groups with respect to pain on movement and during physiotherapy were not significant. Pain was estimated using visual analogue scales, and an arc sine transformation was carried out on values obtained from these scales before comparison using an analysis of variance. The trial did not distinguish between the cryoprobe and infusion treatment. The simplicity of the cryoprobe had much to commend it, but in units without access to this equipment a small infusion pump offers a satisfactory alternative.

Full text

PDF
945

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Aitken R. C. Measurement of feelings using visual analogue scales. Proc R Soc Med. 1969 Oct;62(10):989–993. doi: 10.1177/003591576906201005. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Barnard D. The effects of extreme cold on sensory nerves. Ann R Coll Surg Engl. 1980 May;62(3):180–187. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Catling J. A., Pinto D. M., Jordan C., Jones J. G. Respiratory effects of analgesia after cholecystectomy: comparison of continuous and intermittent papaveretum. Br Med J. 1980 Aug 16;281(6238):478–480. doi: 10.1136/bmj.281.6238.478. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Griffiths D. P., Diamond A. W., Cameron J. D. Postoperative extradural analgesia following thoracic surgery: a feasibility study. Br J Anaesth. 1975 Jan;47(1):48–55. doi: 10.1093/bja/47.1.48. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Katz J., Nelson W., Forest R., Bruce D. L. Cryoanalgesia for post-thoracotomy pain. Lancet. 1980 Mar 8;1(8167):512–513. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(80)92766-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Loan W. B., Dundee J. W. The clinical assessment of pain. Practitioner. 1967 Jun;198(188):759–768. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Maiwand O., Makey A. R. Cryoanalgesia for relief of pain after thoracotomy. Br Med J (Clin Res Ed) 1981 May 30;282(6278):1749–1750. doi: 10.1136/bmj.282.6278.1749. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Mallinson C. N., Bloom S. R., Warin A. P., Salmon P. R., Cox B. A glucagonoma syndrome. Lancet. 1974 Jul 6;2(7871):1–5. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(74)91343-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Nayman J. Measurement and control of postoperative pain. Ann R Coll Surg Engl. 1979 Nov;61(6):419–426. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Nelson K. M., Vincent R. G., Bourke R. S., Smith D. E., Blakeley W. R., Kaplan R. J., Pollay M. Intraoperative intercostal nerve freezing to prevent postthoracotomy pain. Ann Thorac Surg. 1974 Sep;18(3):280–285. doi: 10.1016/s0003-4975(10)64357-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. PAPPER E. M., BRODIE B. B., ROVENSTINE E. A. Postoperative pain; its use in the comparative evaluation of analgesics. Surgery. 1952 Jul;32(1):107–109. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Scott J. S. Obstetric analgesia. A consideration of labor pain and a patient-controlled technique for its relief with meperidine. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 1970 Apr 1;106(7):959–978. doi: 10.1016/s0002-9378(16)34084-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from British Medical Journal (Clinical research ed.) are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES