Yifu Tian, Jun Hu, Hai‐Tao Pan, Guang Bai, Zhao Zhang, Peng Zhang
Background: Currently, there is no report on the efficacy evaluation of oliceridine in patient - controlled intravenous analgesia (PCIA) for elderly patients after surgery. This study aims to investigate the analgesic effect of oliceridine combined with sufentanil under the PCIA treatment mode. Methods: A total of 112 patients were randomly assigned to the sufentanil group (Group S), the oliceridine group (Group O), and the oliceridine + sufentanil group (Group Z). Patients in Group S received 2.0 µg/kg sufentanil; those in Group O received 0.35 mg/kg oliceridine; and patients in Group Z received 1.0 µg/kg sufentanil + 0.35 mg/kg oliceridine. The visual analogue scale (VAS) for pain at rest and during activity within 48 hours after surgery were used as the primary outcome indicators. The secondary observation indicators include the Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS) score for postoperative sleep quality, the number of times the analgesia pump is pressed within 48 hours after surgery, the situation of rescue analgesia, and the occurrence of adverse events. Results: Among the 112 patients analyzed, the combination of oliceridine and sufentanil significantly reduced the VAS scores for pain at rest and during activity within 48 hours after surgery (p < 0.01), and had the lowest incidence rates of postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) and respiratory depression (p < 0.05). Meanwhile, this combination regimen significantly decreased the AIS scores (P < 0.001), the times of analgesia pump pressing (p < 0.01), the times of rescue analgesia (p < 0.05), and the rescue analgesia rate (P < 0.001). Conclusion: In the pain management after laparoscopic radical resection of rectal cancer in elderly patients, oliceridine combined with sufentanil provides the best analgesic effect and has the lowest incidence of adverse reactions associated with opioids.