Megha Soni, Niharika Grover, Suvidha Sood
BACKGROUND Endotracheal intubation is considered gold standard in patients undergoing general anaesthesia. Direct laryngoscopy and tracheal intubation result in an increase in blood pressure and heart rate, the so called ‘pressor response’. Various techniques and drugs have been used in the past to attenuate the pressor response, however none has been proved to be ideal. We conducted this study to compare any possible blunting of cardiovascular effects of laryngoscopy and tracheal intubation by the use of 150 mg pregabalin or 200mcg clonidine with the group that did not receive any of the two drugs. MATERIALS AND METHODS 90 ASA Grade 1 and 2 patients aged 18-60 years of both genders were recruited for the study with 30 patients in each group. Group A – Received oral pregabalin 150 mg with sip of water 120 min before the surgery. Group B – Received oral clonidine 200 mcg with sip of water 120 min prior to surgery. Group C – Oral placebo (multivitamin) with sip of water 120 min prior to surgery. On arrival in the operating room, HR, SBP, DBP, MAP were recorded at baseline, after induction, 1-, 3-, 5- and 10-mins after laryngoscopy and intubation. RESULTS In this study, there was a significant reduction in HR, SBP, DBP, MAP after laryngoscopy and intubation in pregabalin and clonidine group in comparison to control group. Oral premedication with pregabalin as well as clonidine attenuates the haemodynamic response to laryngoscopy and intubation with clonidine being superior to pregabalin.
