Effect of chronic alcohol intake on postoperative analgesia in cancer patients: a large sample, retrospective analysis

Objective To evaluate the effect of chronic alcohol intake on postoperative analgesia in cancer patients. Methods American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status Ⅰ or Ⅱ male patients, aged ≥18 yr, underwent postoperative intelligentized patient-controlled analgesia management from January 1, 2016 to October 22, 2018, searched from wireless analgesia management system database, were selected.The patients were divided into control group and chronic alcoholic intake group according to the history of chronic alcoholic intake.Combined intravenous-inhalational anesthesia was used during surgery.Patient-controlled intravenous or subcutaneous analgesia was performed with sufentanil.When moderate pain occurred (4 points≤numeric rating scale score≤6 points), the parameters of analgesia pump was regulated for rescue analgesia.When severe pain occurred (numeric rating scale score at rest or during activity≥7 points), dezocine 0.5 mg was intravenously injected as rescue analgesic.The effective pressing times, the number of attempts, consumption of sufentanil and occurrence of moderate or severe pain were recorded.The adverse reactions such as nausea and vomiting, pruritus, dizziness and hypotension were also recorded. Results A total of 1 914 patients were enrolled in this study, with 1 508 cases in control group and 406 cases in chronic alcoholic intake group.Compared with control group, the effective pressing times, the number of attempts, consumption of sufentanil and incidence of moderate or severe pain were increased (P<0.05), and no significant change was found in the incidence of nausea and vomiting, pruritus, dizziness or hypotension in chronic alcoholic intake group (P<0.05). Conclusion Chronic alcohol intake can decrease the efficacy of postoperative analgesia in cancer patients. Key words: Alcohol drinking; Pain, postoperative; Analgesia, patient-controlled