Choi BM, Ki SH, Lee YH, et al. - In this randomised, controlled, double-blind study conducted at a university-affiliated hospital, researchers investigated how postoperative pain is influenced by the depth of neuromuscular block (NMB) during laparoscopic gastrectomy. They randomly assigned patients (n = 100) to either deep (posttetanic count 1 to 2) or moderate (train-of-four count 1 to 2) NMB with a standard-pressure pneumoperitoneum. In the postanaesthesia care unit (PACU), a visual analogue scale (0 = no pain, 10 = most severe pain) was used by patients to rate their pain every 10 min after surgery. In both groups, 8 mg was the median value for the minimum effective analgesia dose (MEAD) of oxycodone. Findings revealed no significant reduction in the MEAD of oxycodone given in the PACU in relation to the administration of deep vs moderate NMB. A positive correlation was observed between the duration of pneumoperitoneum and MEAD.