복강경 담낭절제술에서 연령과 성별이 고려될 때 수술 전 Dexamethasone의 투여가 수술 후 통증에 미치는 영향

The Effect of Preoperative Dexamethasone Administration, according to Age and Gender on Postoperative Pain in Patients who Undergo Laparoscopic Choelecystectomy

Background: Preoperative dexamethasone improves the surgical outcome after laparoscopic cholecystectomy(LC). The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of preoperative dexamethasone on the postoperativepain according to age and gender in patients who undergo LC.Methods: In this double blind prospective study, 400 patients, males or females :< 45 yr and males or femaless 65 yr (n = 50 in each of eight groups) who undergoing LC were randomized to receive dexamethasone 8mg (5 ml) or saline 5 ml intravenously 100 minutes before their operation, Postoperative pain was assessedon a visual analog scale (VAS) at 1, 6, 12, and 24 hour, and the time to administering the first postoperativeanalgesics was recorded.Results: Dexamethasone was administered without consideration for age and gender, and it reduced thepostoperative pain VAS score at 1, 6, and 12 hours, and the opioid analgesic requirement, but there was nosignificant difference between administering saline or dexamethasone in the same gender and age groups.Females U 45 yr who were administered saline had the most pain sensitivity and males S 65 yr who wereadministered dexamethasone had the least pain sensitivity.Conclusions: Preoperative dexamethasone reduces the pain intensity and opioid consumption, but does notreduce the pain intensity, according to age and gender in the patients undergoing LC. As a result, Preoperativedexamethasone should be considered for routine use for patients who are undergoing laparoscopic cho-lecystectomy. (Korean J Pain 2008; 21: 51 56)