DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2021.v09i03.012

Pages: 360-363

Background: Regional anaesthesia has several advantages over general anaesthesia, including spontaneous ventilation, retained upper airway reflexes, excellent analgesia, earlier recovery of bowel function, less need for systemic opioids, early post-operative ambulation etc. Clonidine and Dexmedetomidine are α2-adrenoreceptor agonists, who cause analgesia and sedation by acting on α2-receptors, present in the locus coeruleus and substantia gelatinosa of the spinal cord. Objectives: The present study was done to evaluate and compare the effects of intravenous Dexmedetomidine and intravenous Clonidine with placebo on the subarachnoid block duration, hemodynamic changes and sedation in patients undergoing elective lower abdominal surgeries under spinal anaesthesia with 0.5% hyperbaric bupivacaine. Methods: 75 patients who belonged to ASA physical status I & II, posted for lower abdominal surgeries, were divided into three groups of 25 each. Group B received 10ml of physiological IV saline, Group C received 1microgram/kg of IV Clonidine, and Group D received 0.5microgram/kg of IV Dexmedetomidine. After 10 minutes, a lumbar puncture was performed at L3, L4 spinal interspace, and 0.5% of hyperbaric bupivacaine 15 mg was injected intrathecally. Results: The demographic profiles of the patients among the groups were comparable. There was no significant difference in the mean onset time of sensory analgesia at T10 dermatome and onset of motor blockade between the groups. Two-segment regression time of sensory block and the total duration of motor block was significantly prolonged in the dexmedetomidine group than the Clonidine group, which was significantly prolonged compared to the placebo group. A higher ratio of patients in Groups C and D required Atropine for management of bradycardia. The number of patients who had a fall in systolic blood pressure more than 20% of baseline value was not significant. The Ramsay sedation scores were significantly higher (p<0.05) .........