Korean J Anesthesiol.  2012 Nov;63(5):436-440. 10.4097/kjae.2012.63.5.436.

Does dexmedetomidine reduce postoperative pain after laparoscopic cholecystectomy with multimodal analgesia?

• Park JK
• Cheong SH
• Lee KM
• Lim SH
• Lee JH
• Cho K
• Kim MH
• Kim HT

• KMID: 1767212
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4097/kjae.2012.63.5.436

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Pain after laparoscopy is multifactorial and different treatments have been proposed to provide pain relief. Multimodal analgesia is now recommended to prevent and treat post-laparoscopy pain. Dexmedetomidine, an alpha2 agonist, has well-known anesthetic and analgesic-sparing effects. We evaluated the analgesic effect of perioperative dexmedetomidine infusion during laparoscopic cholecystectomy with multimodal analgesia.
METHODS
Forty-two patients aged 20 to 60 years old were allocated randomly into one of 2 groups (n = 21, in each). All patients underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy under multimodal analgesia. The patients in group P received dexmedetomidine 1 microg/kg during 10 min before induction and then 0.5 microg/kg/h continuously until the removal of the gall bladder while the patients in the group C received saline by the same methods as group P. Total analgesic consumption and VAS score were recorded for the first 24 hr.
RESULTS
There were no significant differences in VAS scores between group P and group C during 24 hr after laparoscopic cholecystectomy. VAS scores of group P were lower than that of group C during the 1st hr after operation. The amount of ketorolac required during the 24 hr after the operation was significantly less in group P compared to group C.
CONCLUSIONS
The administration of dexmedetomidine during laparoscopic cholecystectomy with multimodal analgesia has minimal benefits on the reduction of the postoperative pain score. The amount of ketorolac requirements during 24 hr after the operation showed significant difference. Dexmedetomidine might be helpful for the postoperative pain after laparoscopic cholecystectomy with multimodal analgesia.

Keyword

Dexmedetomidine; Laparoscopic cholecystectomy; Postoperative pain

MeSH Terms

Aged
Analgesia
Cholecystectomy, Laparoscopic
Dexmedetomidine
Humans
Ketorolac
Laparoscopy
Pain, Postoperative
Urinary Bladder
Dexmedetomidine
Ketorolac