Post-Caesarean analgesia in Timor-Leste, a low-middle-income country
Keywords:
analgesia, pain, caesarean, protocol, developingAbstract
Timor-Leste is a small, low-middle-income country in Southeast Asia. It is reported to spend less on healthcare than any other country.1 Hospital Nacional Guido Valadares performs 6 000 deliveries a year. Epidural analgesia, intrathecal opiates, transversus abdominis plane blocks, oral and intravenous opiates, and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents have all been mooted as techniques useful in improving post-caesarean analgesia.2,3 Most of these options are unavailable in Timor-Leste. Opiate use in theatre is minimal and opiates are unavailable on the ward. Epidural anaesthesia and patient controlled analgesia are unavailable. A locally formulated post-caesarean pain management protocol, taking into account available agents and expertise, encourages spinal anaesthesia with hyperbaric bupivacaine followed by 100 mg intramuscular tramadol in the recovery area, followed by oral paracetamol 1 gm qid., tramadol 50 mg qid. and ibuprofen 400 mg tds. in the wards. This study sought to determine the efficacy of this protocol in a low resource environment.
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