Can facet joint infiltrative analgesia reduce postoperative pain in degenerative lumbar disc surgery?
OBJECTIVE: Perioperative analgesia effects the postoperative course of pain. The purpose of this study was to evaluate its possible relation with the consumption of dolantine and analgesics and the facet-induced pain and postoperative pain score in degenerative disc surgery. METHODS: We employed perioperative intra- and perifacet bupivacaine infiltration technique to reduce the postoperative pain after lumbar disc surgery. The study was randomized and observer blinded enrolling 40 American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status class I-II patients scheduled for elective degenerative lumbar disc surgery. The patients were divided into two groups of 20 of which Group 1 underwent injection of bupivacaine into the subcutaneous and muscular layers around the incision site, while Group 2 underwent additional intra- and perifacetal joint infiltration. Postoperatively, the patients were provided with a programmed patient-controlled pump which was only activated on demand to infuse dolant
