Objective  To evaluate the effect of intraoperative multimodal analgesia on the early postoperative quality of recovery in end-stage head and neck cancer patients undergoing open gastrostomy surgery.

  Methods  This was a prospective, parallel, randomized controlled study. The research subjects were end-stage head and neck cancer patients who underwent elective open gastrostomy at Beijing Tongren Hospital affiliated to Capital Medical University from November 2022 to May 2023. The patients were randomly divided into local anesthesia group and multimodal analgesia group at a 1∶1 ratio. For local anesthesia group, 0.25% ropivacaine 20-30 mL was administered for local infiltration anesthesia. For multimodal analgesia group, the anesthesia method was nerve block + intravenous analgesia: ultrasound-guided left transverse abdominis plane block (0.25% ropivacaine 0.3 mL/kg)+bilateral rectus abdominis sheath block (0.25% ropivacaine 0.3 mL/kg per side)+intravenous injection of oxycodone 0.1 mg/kg, flurbiprofen 1 mg/kg, and dexamethasone 0.2 mg/kg. The primary outcome measure was the quality of requirements-15 (QoR-15) score at postoperative 24 h, while the secondary outcome measures were the QoR-15 score at postoperative 48 h, the numerical rating scale (NRS) and Bruggemann comfort scale (BCS) scores at different time points after the surgery, the first time of rescue analgesia, the first time of off-bed activity and intestinal exhaust, as well as the incidences of adverse reactions within postoperative 48 h.

  Results  A total of 46 patients with end-stage head and neck cancer who underwent open gastrostomy and met the inclusion and exclusion criteria were ultimately enrolled, with 23 patients in multimodal analgesia group and 23 patients in local anesthesia group. There was no statistically significant difference in preoperative QoR-15 scores between the two groups (P > 0.05). Multimodal analgesia group had higher QoR-15 scores at 24 h postoperatively(81.77±8.91) vs. (71.46±7.61), P < 0.05 and 48 h postoperatively(86.26±7.92) vs. (80.13±6.98), P < 0.05, and the difference in QoR-15 scores at 24 h postoperatively was clinically significant. Compared with local anesthesia group, at 6 h and 24 h after surgery, the multimodal analgesia group showed a decrease in NRS scores at rest and during exercise, while the comfort BCS score increased (all P < 0.05). Multimodal analgesia group also had a delayed time for the first rescue analgesia, a reduced incidence of rescue analgesia within 48 h after surgery, an earlier time for first postoperative off-bed activity and intestinal exhaust (all P < 0.05). The incidence of adverse reactions in multimodal analgesia group and local anesthesia group was 8.70% and 13.04%, respectively, but the difference was not statistically significant (P > 0.05).

  Conclusion  Intraoperative multimodal analgesia can effectively alleviate postoperative pain, increase the comfortable degree, shorten the first time of postoperative off-bed activity and intestinal exhaust, and accordingly improve the quality of early postoperative recovery in patients undergoing open gastrostomy.