A prospective, randomized, controlled, and double-blind trial. To evaluate the effects of 2 different doses of perioperative pregabalin administration, twice on the day of surgery, on acute postoperative pain after spinal surgery. Besides its well-established role on neuropathic pain, pregabalin seems to be a promising adjunct to multimodal analgesic regimen following surgery. No comprehensive data exist regarding the optimal dosage of pregabalin on reducing postoperative pain and opioid consumption in spinal surgery. Patients were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 groups. The placebo group (n = 28) received placebo capsules 1 hour before the anesthetic induction and 12 hours after surgery. The pregabalin groups received pregabalin 75 mg (P75 group, n = 28) or 150 mg (P150 group, n = 28), respectively at the same points. Assessed variables were total amount of administered fentanyl-based intravenous patient-controlled analgesia, pain intensity, and the frequency of rescue analgesic administered during the first 48 hours after surgery, subdivided into the following 4 periods: on arrival of patient to the postanesthesia care unit, 1 to 6 hours, 6 to 24 hours, and 24 to 48 hours. RESULTS.: The amount of patient-controlled analgesia volume infused until 24 hours (P 5 0.025) and 48 hours (P 5 0.028) after surgery was significantly less in the P150 group compared with the control group. The frequency of additional anodynes administered until 6 hours (P 5 0.049) and 24 hours (P 5 0.045) after surgery was significantly less in the P150 group compared with the control group. Perioperative administration of pregabalin 150 mg before and 12 hours after surgery, but not 75 mg, significantly reduced opioid consumption and the use of additional pain rescue for 48 hours after surgery without significant side effects in patients undergoing spinal fusion surgery.

Objective: Postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) commonly develops after cardiac surgery affecting patients’ outcome. Cerebral oximetry noninvasively measures regional cerebral oxygen saturation (rSO₂) and significant correlation has been reported between intraoperative cerebral desaturation and POCD, as well as patients’ outcome following coronary artery bypass grafting. However, evidence is limited in valvular heart surgery (VHS). We investigated the relationship of intraoperative rSO₂ values with POCD and length of postoperative hospitalization in patients undergoing VHS. Methods: One hundred patients undergoing elective VHS were enrolled. Neurocognitive evaluation was performed with Mini-Mental State Examination, Trail-Making Test (Part A), and Grooved Pegboard Test at 1 day before and 7th day after surgery. During surgery, rSO₂ was continuously monitored and the incidence and duration of decrease in rSO₂ values for five consecutive minutes were recorded as follows; (1) decrease in absolute rSO₂ values to less than 50%, (2) 40%, and (3) a 20% decrease compared to baseline value. Results: Twenty-three patients (23%) demonstrated POCD. We could not observe any significant differences in either the incidence or duration of decrease in rSO₂ values between patients with and without POCD. Low education level and higher baseline temperature had significant correlation with POCD. Patients with cerebral desaturation required significantly longer postoperative hospitalization. Conclusion: In patients undergoing VHS, POCD could not be predicted with cerebral oximetry. However, patients with intraoperative cerebral desaturation required significantly longer postoperative hospitalization and cerebral oximetry appears to be promising in terms of monitoring the brain as the index organ for systemic perfusion and improving patients’ outcome.