Comparison between effectiveness of intravenous patient-controlled analgesia and epidural analgesia in patients undergoing Cesarean section

The aim of this study is to compare the effectiveness of epidural versus intravenous patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) during the post-cesarean section (CS) period. The anesthesia records and pain control charts of 90 patients undergoing CS from July 2003 to April 2004 were retrospectively analyzed. Twelve patients for emergency delivery and patients who refused to undergo regional anesthesia were grouped in Group I (GI); 78 patients received epidural anesthesia and were put in Group II (GII). Fourteen per cent of our patients received intravenous PCA following general anesthesia for CS. No differences in age, weight and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) values on days 1-3 after intervention were observed between groups, but the total dose of morphine requirement to achieve adequate post-CS pain relief was significantly higher in GI than in GII.