WEDNESDAY, July 22, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- For patients undergoing robotic cardiac valve surgery, lidocaine 5 percent patches do not reduce acute or persistent pain, according to a study published online July 14 in Pain Medicine.
Bruce Vrooman, M.D., from the Cleveland Clinic, and colleagues conducted a randomized, placebo-controlled trial among patients having robotic cardiac valve surgery. Patients were randomized to 5 percent lidocaine patches or identically appearing placebo patches. Patches were applied around each incision until pain resolved or for six months, for 12 hours/day.
The researchers found that acute pain scores, opioid use, and incidence of persistent pain were low. Lidocaine patches had no impact on measures of acute or persistent incisional pain. For lidocaine patch minus placebo, the estimated difference in mean Pain Disability Index was −2.5 (P = 0.28).
"In summary, lidocaine 5 percent patches did not reduce acute or persistent pain in patients having robotic cardiac valve surgery, though pain scores were low in both treatment groups," the authors write. "Clinicians should choose alternative analgesic approaches for these patients."
The study was funded by Endo Pharmaceuticals.
Abstract
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