Multimodal intrathecal analgesia (MITA) with morphine for reducing postoperative opioid use and acute pain following hepato-pancreato-biliary surgery: A multicenter retrospective study

Introduction The optimal analgesic modality for patients undergoing hepato-pancreato-biliary (HPB) surgery remains unknown. The analgesic effects of a multimodal intrathecal analgesia (MITA) technique of intrathecal morphine (ITM) in combination with clonidine and bupivacaine compared to ITM alone have not been investigated in these patients. Methods We performed a multicenter retrospective study of patients undergoing complex HPB surgery who received ITM, bupivacaine, and clonidine (MITA group) or ITM-only (ITM group) as part of their perioperative analgesia strategy. The primary outcome was the unadjusted oral morphine equivalent daily dose (oMEDD) in milligrams on postoperative day 1. After adjusting for age, body mass index, hospital allocation, type of surgery, operation length, and intraoperative opioid use, postoperative oMEDD use was investigated using a bootstrapped quantile regression model. Other prespecified outcomes included postoperative pain scores, opioid-related adverse events, major complications, and length of hospital stay. Results In total, 118 patients received MITA and 155 patients received ITM-only. The median (IQR) cumulative oMEDD use on postoperative day 1 was 20.5 mg (8.6:31.0) in the MITA group and 52.1 mg (18.0:107.0) in the ITM group (P < 0.001). There was a variation in the magnitude of the difference in oMEDD use between the groups for different quartiles. For the MITA group, on postoperative day 1, patients in the 25(th) percentile required 14.0 mg less oMEDD (95% CI: -25.9 to -2.2; P = 0.025), patients in the 50(th) percentile required 27.8 mg less oMEDD (95% CI: -49.7 to -6.0; P = 0.005), and patients in the 75(th) percentile required 38.7 mg less oMEDD (95% CI: -72.2 to -5.1; P = 0.041) compared to patients in the same percentile of the ITM group. Patients in the MITA group had significantly lower pain scores in the postoperative recovery unit and on postoperative days 1 to 3. The incidence of postoperative respiratory depression was low (<1.5%) and similar between groups. Patients in the MITA group had a significantly higher incidence of postoperative hypotension requiring vasopressor support. However, no significant differences were observed in major postoperative complications, or the length of hospital stay. Conclusion In patients undergoing complex HPB surgery, the use of MITA, consisting of ITM in combination with intrathecal clonidine and bupivacaine, was associated with reduced postoperative opioid use and resulted in superior postoperative analgesia without risk of respiratory depression when compared to patients who received ITM alone. A randomized prospective clinical trial investigating these two intrathecal analgesic techniques is justified.