AIM:To provide a specifi c review and meta-analysis of the available evidence for continuous wound infusion of local anaesthetic agents following midline laparoto-my for major colorectal surgery. METHODS: Medline, Embase, trial registries, conference proceedings and article reference lists were searched to identify randomised, controlled trials of continuous wound infusion of local anaesthetic agents following colorectal surgery. The primary outcomes were opioid consumption, pain visual analogue scores (VASs), return to bowel function and length of hospital stay. Weighted mean difference were calculated for continuous outcomes. RESULTS: Five trials containing 542 laparotomy wounds were eligible for inclusion. There was a sig- nificant decrease in post-operative pain VAS at rest on day 3 (weighted mean difference: -0.43; 95% CI: -0.81 to -0.04; P = 0.03) but not on post-operative day 1 and 2. Local anaesthetic infusion was associated with a signifi cant reduction in pain VAS on movement on all three post-operative days (day 1 weighted mean difference: -1.14; 95% CI: -2.24 to -0.041; P = 0.04, day 2 weighted mean difference: -0.97, 95% CI: -1.91to -0.029; P = 0.04, day 3 weighted mean difference: -0.61; 95% CI: 1.01 to -0.20; P = 0.0038). Local an- aesthetic wound infusion was associated with a signifi - cant decrease in total opioid consumption (weighted mean difference: -40.13; 95% CI: -76.74 to -3.53; P = 0.03). There was no signifi cant decrease in length of stay (weighted mean difference: -20.87; 95% CI: -46.96 to 5.21; P = 0.12) or return of bowel function (weighted mean difference: -9.40; 95% CI: -33.98 to 15.17; P = 0.45). CONCLUSION: The results of this systematic re- view and meta-analysis suggest that local anaesthetic wound infusion following laparotomy for major color- ectal surgery is a promising technique but do not pro- vide conclusive evidence of benefi t. Further research is required including cost-effectiveness analysis.
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