Pain Management in Peripheral Arterial Obstructive Disease: Oral Slow-Release Oxycodone Versus Epidural L-Bupivacaine

Objectives: To compare the effectiveness of oral slow-release oxycodone (group OX, n=18) with that of epidural L-bupivacaine (group LRA, n=13) for the control of moderate/severe pain of advanced-stage peripheral arterial obstructive disease (PAOD) patients. Design: Observational and retrospective analysis of advanced stage and hospitalised PAOD patients treated for pain management for at least 7 days prior to surgery or discharged from the hospital without surgery. Methods: The outcome measures were pain intensity using the visual analogue scale under static, (VASs) and dynamic (VASd) conditions; vital signs, treatment side effects and patient satisfaction. Results: In both groups, pain control was satisfactory and VAS scores median were VASs< 3 and VASd < 4; under dynamic conditions, pain control was better in the LRA group (p< 0.01). Against fewandtransient sideeffects,mostpatients (n=30) foundbothpaintreatments good orexcellent. Results should be confirmed by studies with larger samples. Conclusions: In the perioperative setting, the epidural infusion of local anaesthetics, such as L-bupivacaine, is an effective technique for pain control in PAOD patients; for patients with contraindication for this technique or for non-surgical or outpatients, slow-release oxycodone is suggested as a possible alternative for the control of severe pain in these patients.