Does the combination of intrathecal fentanyl and morphine improve clinical outcomes in patients undergoing lumbar fusions?


doi: 10.1007/s10143-023-02011-6.

Affiliations

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Alan Villavicencio et al.


Neurosurg Rev.


.

Abstract

Intrathecal morphine (ITM) has been widely effective in improving postoperative outcomes in patients undergoing a multitude of surgeries, including lumbar spine fusion. A major limitation of ITM administration is the increase in the incidence of respiratory depression in a dose-dependent manner. One way to bypass this is to use a more potent opioid with a shorter half-life, such as fentanyl. This is a retrospective analysis of patients who underwent one- or two-level transforaminal lumbar interbody fusions. The patients received one of two interventions: 0.2mg intrathecal duramorph/morphine (ITM group; n=70), 0.2mg duramorph + 50 mcg fentanyl (ITM + fentanyl group; n=68) and the control group (n=102). Primary outcomes included postoperative pain (Visual Analog Scale) and opioid intake (MED – morphine equivalent dosage, mg) for postoperative days (POD) 1- 4. Secondary outcomes included opioid-related side effects. One-way analyses of variance and follow-up post-hoc Tukey’s honest significant difference statistical tests were used to measure treatment effects. Significantly lower POD1 pain scores for both the ITM and ITM + fentanyl groups vs. control were detected, with no difference between the ITM vs. ITM + fentanyl groups. Similar results were found for POD1 MED intake. A multivariate regression analysis controlling for confounding variables did not attenuate the differences seen in POD1 pain scores while revealing that only the ITM + fentanyl predicted a decrease in POD1 MED intake. No differences were seen for postoperative opioid-related side effects. Our study provides support for supplementing a low dose of both intrathecal morphine and fentanyl to improve postoperative outcomes.


Keywords:

Fentanyl; Intrathecal morphine; Lumbar fusion; Opioids; Postoperative pain.

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