Steroids and postoperative analgesia

Abstract

The postoperative analgesic requirements of a group of patients receiving high doses of corticosteroids for 48 hours postoperatively were studied. It was found that the opioid requirement of the group was significantly less than that of a control group undergoing similar surgery but not receiving steroids (p < 0.001). The steroid group required approximately half the opioid dose of the control group. Possible explanations of the effect include the anti-inflammatory action of steroids and competitive inhibition of a common metabolic pathway in the liver.