To evaluate the efficacy of peri-operative acetazolamide for pain control in robotic assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy (RALP). Prior studies have demonstrated that preoperative acetazolamide decreased post-operative referred pain in the post-surgical period for laparoscopic procedures. The proposed mechanism is acetazolamide mediated inhibition of carbonic anhydrase, thereby preventing formation of carbonic acid and subsequent peritoneal acidosis with referred pain. This has yet to be demonstrated in the setting of RALP.
Patients undergoing RALP were randomized to receive either preoperative saline or acetazolamide prior to the procedure. Overall pain and scores were recorded at multiple time points post operatively, as well as total morphine equivalents administered for adjunctive pain control.
Thirty-one patients were included in the study: sixteen patients (51.6%) received perioperative acetazolamide, and fifteen patients (48.4%) received perioperative saline as placebo. Overall pain scores were similar for patients receiving acetazolamide compared to placebo at various time points: first responsive (3.5 ± 3.1 vs 4.1 ± 1.7, P=0.28), immediately prior to leaving PACU (2.8 ± 2.9 vs 2.9 ± 2.9, P=0.48), at 4 hours post-procedure (3.1 ± 3.0 vs 2.9 ± 1.8, P=0.362), or at 24 hours post-procedure (2.3 ± 1.7 vs 2.2 ± 1.6, P=0.5). Shoulder tip pain was not present in either cohort. No statistically significant difference was observed for total morphine equivalents delivered between acetazolamide and placebo (17.3 vs 20.5, p = 0.2, respectively).
Acetazolamide does not appear to impact overall pain or shoulder tip pain in the observed cohort of patients undergoing RALP.
Urology. 2022 Dec 05 [Epub ahead of print]
Robert Medairos, Joseph Lankford, Ross Everett, Garrett Berger, Krystal Weierstahl, Harvey Woehlck, Kenneth Jacobsohn, Scott Johnson
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