BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Postoperative pain in obese patients is a noxious event for their recovery delaying hospital discharge and increasing the chance of complications. This study aimed at determining pain frequency in the post-anesthetic care unit and at investigating factors associated to moderate to severe pain in obese patients submitted to gastroplasty, relating them to potential complications. METHODS: This is an observational and prospective study including 84 patients submitted to general anesthesia with sevoflurane for laparoscopic gastroplasty. Patients were evaluated in the post-anesthetic care unit for pain intensity by the verbal and numerical scale (Ramsay scale), presence of nausea, vomiting and respiratory complications. Logistic regression model was used to determine pain-related independent variables. RESULTS: There has been no pain at admission to the post-anesthetic care unit in 61.63% of patients. In the multivariate analysis, fentanyl as compared to sufentanil was the only independent factor associated to pain (OR 3.07 - IC95% 1.17 - 6.4). There has been no difference between the type of opioid used and the presence of nausea and vomiting (p>0.05). Ramsay scale scores were not different between opioids used in the intraoperative period (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: The only independent factor associated to pain in the post-anesthetic care unit was the type of opioid used for anesthetic induction. Postoperative pain is still a frequent event affecting most patients, and analgesic protocols have to be implemented to minimize the effects that undertreated pain may induce.
Gastroplasty; Obesity; Pain; Risk
