Background/Aims: We evaluated the effectiveness and safety of lumbar plexus blockade with ropivacaine for postoperative pain relief in elderly patients undergoing flank incision for urological surgery. Methods: 60 urological patients (>65 years old) were chosen randomly for paravertebral lumbar blockade. Postoperatively ropivacaine was used in group I (n = 30) and bupivacaine was administered in group II (n = 30) for lumbar plexus blockade. Heart rates, systolic and diastolic blood pressures, peripheral oxygen saturations, analgesia levels with visual analogue scales (VAS) were measured postoperatively at 5 and 30 min and 1, 3, 6, 8,and 12 h. Patient satisfaction scores and complications were recorded. Results: The hemodynamic parameters of the groups were in the normal ranges (p > 0.05). VAS were significantly decreased at 60 min in both groups (p < 0.05) and no important increase was observed during the first 8 h (p > 0.05). After the 8-hour measurement, analgesic was given to 7 patients in group I and 6 patients in group II (p < 0.05). There were no complications (p > 0.05). Patient satisfaction scores were found to be higher for all patients (p > 0.05). Conclusion: In elderly patients, lumbar plexus blockade with ropivacaine can be a simple, safe and effective analgesic technique especially in the early postoperative period after urologic surgeries with flank incision.

Keywords:
Lumbar paravertebral blockade, Elderly patient, Flank incision, Bupivacaine, Ropivacaine
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© 2005 S. Karger AG, Basel
2005
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