Analgesic efficacy of butorphanol combined with sufentanil after heart valve surgery: A propensity score-matching analysis

Pain is common after heart valve surgery and can stimulate the sympathetic nervous system, causing hemodynamic instability and respiratory complications. Current treatments for postoperative pain are insufficient, and postoperative pain is difficult to control effectively with a single analgesic. Therefore, we investigated the analgesic efficacy of butorphanol with sufentanil after heart valve surgery and its hemodynamic effects. The records of 221 patients admitted to the intensive care unit after cardiac valve replacement between January 1, 2018, and May 31, 2021, were retrospectively analyzed. Patients were allocated to 2 groups based on the postoperative pain treatment they received: treatment group (administered butorphanol combined with sufentanil), and control group (administered conventional sufentanil analgesia). After propensity score matching for sex, age, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II score, type of valve surgery, and operation duration, 76 patients were included in the study, and analgesic efficacy, hemodynamic changes, and adverse drug reactions were compared between the 2 groups. After propensity score matching, the baseline characteristics were not significantly different between the groups. The histogram and jitter plot of the propensity score distribution indicated good matching. No significant differences were observed in the duration of mechanical ventilation, duration of stay in the intensive care unit, duration of total hospital stay, and hospitalization expenditure between the groups (P > .05). The treatment group had notably higher minimum systolic blood pressure (P = .024) and lower heart rate variability (P = .049) than those in the control group. Moreover, the treatment group exhibited better analgesic efficacy and had lower critical-care pain observation tool scores and consumption of sufentanil 24 hours after surgery than the control group (P < .05). The incidence of vomiting was notably lower in the treatment than in the control group (P = .028). Butorphanol combined with sufentanil can be used in patients after heart valve replacement. This combined treatment has good analgesic efficacy and is associated with reduced adverse drug reactions and, potentially, steady hemodynamics.