DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2017.v05i06.039

Pages: 2256-2262

Epidural analgesia remains the gold standard for postoperative pain relief for the patients undergoing hip surgeries. This study was conducted to find the optimum dose of dexmedetomidine in combination with ropivacaine for prolonging the duration of postoperative analgesia using different doses of dexmedetomidine as an adjunct to ropivacaine in patients undergoing hip surgeries. Ninety patients of ASA I-II class, aged between 20–80 years, were recruited in the study. The patients were randomly allocated into three groups; ropivacaine + normal saline(R), ropivacaine+dexmedetomidine 0.5µg/kg (RD0.5) and ropivacaine + dexmedetomidine 1µg/kg (RD1). Group R patients received epidural 0.2% Ropivacaine 2mg (10 ml) with 1ml normal saline, group RD0.5 patients received 0.2% Ropivacaine 20mg (10ml)with 0.5μg/kg dexmedetomidine and group RD1 patients received 0.2% Ropivacaine 20 mg (10 ml) with 1μg/kg dexmedetomidine. Cardio-respiratory parameters, sedation scores, various block characteristics like time for two segment regression and to T10 segment regression, duration of analgesia, frequency of rescue analgesia, adverse effects if any were noted in each case .The statistical analysis was done using SPSS Version 15.0 statistical Analysis Software. Dose dependent increase in duration of analgesia was observed in group RD0.5 and RD1 as compared to group R but heart rate and blood pressure were significantly lower and sedation scores were higher in study groups as compared to control group R. Hypotension and bradycardia were observed maximum with group RD1 followed by group RD0.5 and group R.