Local infiltration analgesia in urogenital prolapse surgery: a prospective randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study

Objective. To evaluate the analgesic effect of high‐volume infiltration analgesia in urogenital prolapse surgery and provide a detailed description of the infiltration technique. Design. A randomized, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled study following the CONSORT criteria. Setting. A university hospital. Patients. 48 patients undergoing posterior wall repair and perineorraphy. Methods. Patients received high‐volume (26ml) ropivacaine 1% with epinephrine (n=23) or saline (n=22) infiltration using a systematic technique ensuring uniform delivery to all tissues incised, handled or instrumented during the procedure. Main outcome measures. Pain and opioid requirements were assessed for 24hours as well as time spent in the post‐anesthesia care unit and time to first mobilization. Results. Pain at rest, during coughing and movement was significantly reduced for the first four hours with the high‐volume local anesthetic infiltration technique (p