Occurrence of rapid eye movement sleep deprivation after surgery under regional anesthesia.

Sleep disturbances after general surgery have been described. In this study, we assessed rapid eye movement (REM) sleep in patients undergoing knee replacement surgery using a regional anesthetic technique.Ambulatory polysomnography (PSG) was performed on 3 nights: the night before surgery (PSG1), the first night after surgery (PSG2), and the fifth postoperative night (PSG3). Postoperative analgesia was maintained with peripheral nerve catheters for the first 3 days and with oral opioids thereafter. In addition, nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs were administered. Postoperative pain was monitored using a visual analog scale.PSG was performed in 12 patients, 6 men and 6 women, with a mean …