Adrenaline increases sensory block and improves the pain-relieving effect of a mixture of bupivacaine and fentanyl infused epidurally at a thoracic level after major thoracic or abdominal surgery. Serum fentanyl concentrations doubled and sedation increased when adrenaline was removed from the epidural infusion, indicating more rapid vascular absorption and systemic effects of fentanyl.

Methylprednisolone 125 mg i.v. 1 day after surgery gave similar early reduction of pain as i.v. ketorolac 30 mg. Less pain than placebo 24 h after methylprednisolone, and lower opioid consumption for 72 h compared with ketorolac and placebo indicate sustained analgesic effects of methylprednisolone.

A low dose of epidural fentanyl (20 microg x h(-1)) markedly improved the pain-relieving effect of bupivacaine and adrenaline infused epidurally at a thoracic level after major upper abdominal surgery. This dose of fentanyl is much too small to relieve severe dynamic pain when given systemically. Therefore, this study indirectly supports the view that a low-dose thoracic epidural infusion of fentanyl has a spinal analgesic site of action.

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