Rama Krishna Reddy Mudiganti1, Radha Krishna V. V2, Aruna Subhash T3
BACKGROUND
Though spinal anaesthesia is cost affective, rapid onset of action, its short duration is a disadvantage. To overcome this adding adjuvants to local anaesthetics intrathecally has become common these days.
AIM
The purpose of this study is to compare the onset and duration of sensory and motor block, as well as the hemodynamic changes following intrathecal Bupivacaine supplemented with a low dose of either Dexmedetomidine or Clonidine.
DESIGN
A randomized controlled study of patients undergoing major orthopaedic surgery.
MATERIALS & METHODS
The study includes 100 patients, divided into 2 groups of 50 each. In Group C patients received Clonidine with Bupivacaine and in Group D patients received Dexmedetomidine with Bupivacaine intrathecally.
STATISTICAL ANALYSIS
Statistical analysis was done using SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) 21 software. The demographic data were analyzed using either Student's t-test or Chi- square test. Quantitative data was analyzed by student's t test and qualitative data was analyzed by Chi-square test.
RESULTS & CONCLUSION
Bupivacaine spinal anaesthesia is prolonged by intrathecally administered Clonidine 37.5 μg and Dexmedetomidine 5μg, with minimal influence on haemodynamic parameters. Addition of 5 μg Dexmedetomidine significantly prolonged the duration of sensory blockade, motor blockade and post-operative analgesia as compared to the addition of 37.5 μg of Clonidine. The incidence of side effects was minimal in both the groups, and the difference between the groups was statistically insignificant.
