Abdominal Pain after Cataract Surgery with Remifentanil Based Anesthesia

Remifentanil is an ultra short acting opioid that is suitable for many operations and is wildly used for induction and maintenance of anesthesia. In this article we have reported the incidence of abdominal pain after cataract surgery in patients with remifentanil based anesthesia. This study is a randomized single blind clinical trial on 300 patients who were candidates for elective cataract surgery under general anesthesia. Patients were randomly divided into two groups. In the control group (N=150) after routine monitoring, general anesthesia was induced by fentanyl, propofol and atracurium. Anesthesia was maintained by propofol infusion and 60% N₂O inhalation. In remifentanil group, general anesthesia was induced by remifentanil, propofol and atracurium. Anesthesia was maintained by remifentanil infusion and 60% N₂O inhalation. Abdominal pain was observed in 79 patients (52.6%) of the remifentanil group. Abdominal pain was severe in 10 cases (6.7%), which indicated a therapeutic intervention. Abdominal pain was observed in 3 cases (2%) of control group patients. Abdominal pain incidence was significantly higher in remifentanil group (p=0.0001). Postoperative nausea and vomiting (PNOV) was reported in 7 patients (4.7%) in remifentanil group and in 10 cases (6.7%) of the control group (p=0.454). Briefly, remifentanil based anesthesia caused high incidence of abdominal pain in cataract surgery patients.