The comparison of analgesic effects of local anesthesia and piroxicam in
legal abortions
E.Z. Tuzcular Vural, I. Gönenç, N. Aka, G. Köse, K. Karaca
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Haydarpasa Numune Training and
Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey
Aim: In this prospective study our aim was to determine whether
piroxicam (P) used either alone or combined with the local anesthetic Lidocaine
hydrochloride (LH) had any superiority over local anesthesia alone or placebo,
and decide whether piroxicam could be used as a safe, economical and efficacious
alternative for pain control.
Materials and Methods: 177 women requesting termination of pregnancy
were included in our study. The participants were double blindly and randomly
divided into four groups. Group 1 (n=40) only used placebo orally, Group 2
(n=48) had only paracervical blocking with LH, Group 3 (n=48) received only 40
mg P administered sublingually, and Group 4 (n=41) had both LH and P. All of the
pregnancies were terminated by means of suction curettage using nr: 5 and 6
flexible Karman canulas and a Karman injector. 10 minutes after the procedure,
all of the participants were questioned for pain perception using the five-point
pain scale. x2, Mann-Whitney U, Levene, Anova tests and
Kruskal-Wallis one way variable analysis and Pearson correlation tests were used
for statistical evaluation of the data.
Results: Pain scores were the highest in Group 1 (p<0,05). Group 2, Group 3 and Group 4 followed respectively. P combined with LH both clinically and statistically gave the best results for pain control (p<0,05).
Conclusion: We conclude that premedication with P and paracervical
blocking with LH is a safe, economical and easy to apply way of pain management
in legal abortion procedures.
