Comparing the Effects of Infusion and Bolus Doses of Bupivacaine Applied with Infraclavicular Catheter on the Duration and Need of Postoperative Analgesia

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate postoperative analgesia duration, analgesic requirements, and patient satisfaction between continuous infusion and bolus injection techniques using an infraclavicular catheter in patients undergoing forearm surgery. Material and Method: We examined 100 patients which were divided into 2 groups to evaluate the data retrospectively. Bolus Injection Group (B): Patients who received 4 mL of bupivacaine (0.5%) from the catheter if the VAS value was > 3. Continuous Infusion Group (C): Patients who received 20 mg bupivacaine (0.02%) infusion via catheter using an infusion pump in 24 hours. Demographic data, American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score, intraoperative and postoperative hemodynamic data, sensory and motor block onset times, postoperative Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) (1-2-6-12-24th hour), postoperative 24th and 48th hour satisfaction score, obtained from anesthesia and algology follow-up forms, were evaluated. Results: When both groups were compared, VAS6 and VAS24 values of Group C were found to be statistically significantly lower than Group B. Satisfaction scores revealed that significantly more patients in Group C reported being very satisfied compared to Group B. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that continuous local anesthetic infusion via catheter offers more sustainable analgesia compared to bolus administration.