Different titration protocols in pain management after radical gastrectomy for gastric cancer patients

Table 4 Comparison of analgesic consumption and pain management

Characteristic	12-hour titration regimen, n = 52	24-hour titration regimen, n = 68	P value
Total analgesic consumption, mg	30 ± 5.2	42 ± 6.8	< 0.001
Cox regression analysis: Hazard ratio	0.65	1.00	< 0.001
Number of rescue analgesic doses in first 24 hours	1.2	2.1	0.005
Patient satisfaction score, 0-10	8.5	7.2	0.001
Time to first analgesic request, hours	3.5	2.1	0.003
Incidence of adverse events, %	15.4	22.1	0.045
Length of hospital stay, days	4.2	4.8	0.020
Pain intensity at 48 hours postoperatively (VAS)	2.1	2.9	0.015
Pain intensity at 72 hours postoperatively (VAS)	1.8	2.5	0.030

VAS: Visual Analog Scale.