Role of Magnesium Sulfate in Postoperative Analgesia
- 1 February 1996
- journal article
- clinical trial
- Published by Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health) in Anesthesiology
- Vol. 84 (2), 340-347.
- https://doi.org/10.1097/00000542-199602000-00011
Abstract
Background N-methyl-D-aspartate antagonists may play a role in the prevention of pain. An assessment was made of the effect of the physiologic N-methyl-D-aspartate antagonist magnesium on analgesic requirements, pain, comfort, and quality of sleep in the postoperative period. Methods In a randomized, double-blind study, 42 patients undergoing elective abdominal hysterectomy with general anesthesia received 20% magnesium sulfate or saline (control) 15 ml intravenously before start of surgery and 2.5 ml/h for the next 20 h. Postoperative morphine requirement was assessed for 48 h using patient-controlled analgesia. Maximum expiratory flow (peak flow), pain at rest and during peak flow, and discomfort were evaluated up to the 48th postoperative hour, and 1 week and 1 month after surgery. Insomnia was evaluated after the first and second postoperative nights. Results Compared to control subjects, magnesium-treated patients consumed less morphine during the first 48h (P<0.03), which was most pronounced during the first 6 h (P<0.004), and experienced less discomfort during the first and second postoperative days (P<0.05-0.005). The magnesium-treated group revealed no change in postoperative sleeping patterns when compared to preoperative patterns. Control patients showed an increase in insomnia during the first and second postoperative nights (P<0.002 and P<0.005, respectively) compared to preoperative values. Conclusions This is the first clinical study showing that the perioperative application of magnesium sulfate is associated with smaller analgesic requirement, less discomfort, and a better quality of sleep in the postoperative period but not with adverse effects. Magnesium could be of interest as an adjuvant to postoperative analgesia.Keywords
This publication has 27 references indexed in Scilit:
- Nifedipine-Induced Analgesia After Epidural Injection in RatsAnesthesia & Analgesia, 1994
- Enhancement of opiate analgesia by nimodipine in cancer patients chronically treated with morphine: a preliminary reportPain, 1994
- Magnesium sulphate injected subcutaneously suppresses autotomy in peripherally deafferented ratsPain, 1993
- Antinociceptive effects of Ca2+ channel blockersEuropean Journal of Pharmacology, 1992
- Effects of intravenous magnesium in suspected acute myocardial infarction: overview of randomised trials.BMJ, 1991
- The induction and maintenance of central sensitization is dependent on N -methyl-d-aspartic acid receptor activation; implications for the treatment of post-injury pain hypersensitivity statesPain, 1991
- Excitatory amino acid neurotoxicity at the N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor in cultured neurons: role of the voltage-dependent magnesium blockBrain Research, 1989
- Electrophysiological studies of NMDA receptorsTrends in Neurosciences, 1987
- Magnesium: Nature's physiologic calcium blockerAmerican Heart Journal, 1984
- Mg2+-like selective antagonism of excitatory amino acid-induced responses by α,ε-diaminopimelic acid, D-α-maminoadipate and HA-966 in isolated spinal cord of frog and immature ratBrain Research, 1978