Analgesic efficacy and safety of remifentanil for postoperative congenital heart children

Objective To evaluate the efficacy and safety of remifentanil (RF) for analgesia of post-operative children with congenital heart disease in pediatric intensive care unit. Methods A total of 250 patients were enrolled and divided into 5 groups by random numerical table method.Patients in group RF1, RF2, RF3, SF and M was treated with at the doses of reminfentanil 1-3 μg/(kg·h), 3-6 μg/(kg·h), 6-9 μg/(kg·h), sufentanil 0.08 μg/(kg·h) and morphine 20 μg/(kg·h) respectively.All the analgesias were given intravenously with midazolam 2 μg / ( kg·min) for sedative.We recorded the faces pain scale, Ramsay, vital signs(mean arterial pressure, heart rate ), blood gas analysis, cortisol, ventilation time, times of contemporary sedation drugs and incidence of side effects in 24 hours after operation(1 h, 4 h, 8 h, 12 h, 24 h). Results The analgesic satisfaction in group M were lower than those in the other four groups at 1 h, 4 h (P<0.05), and the analgesic satisfaction in group RF3 were higher than those in group RF1 and RF2 at 1 h, 4 h, 8 h (P<0.05). Compared with group M and SF, group RF1, group RF2 and group RF3 had a more stable hemodynamics (mean arterial pressure, heart rate). The times of contemporary sedative in group M were maximum among the 5 groups.The incidence of low blood pressure in group M was higher than those in the other four groups (P=0.06), while the incidence of respiratory depression in group RF3 was the most (P=0.06). There were also no significant differences in blood gas analysis, cortisol and ventilation time among each group. Conclusion The efficacy of remifentanil is superior to morphine.Compared with sufentanil and morphine, remifentanil has less influence on hemodynamics.We recommend the dose of remifentanil 3-6 μg/(kg·h), compound with midazolam 2 μg/(kg·min), which is more reliable and durable. Key words: Remifentanil; Congenital heart disease; Analgesia; Sedation,