Ajith Kumar G.1 , Baburaj C.2 Sanjay Sahadevan3 , Prabhash R.4 , Shamsad Beegam5
BACKGROUND Dexmedetomidine is a selective α2 adrenoreceptor agonist, is more potent, and is highly lipid soluble which causes rapid systemic absorption and local anaesthetic effect. It is therefore a suitable choice for intravenous regional analgesia. Studies on peripheral nerves in-vivo have proved that dexmedetomidine may be safely administered for intravenous regional analgesia in combination with local anaesthetics. The present study compared the onset, quality, total duration, and efficacy of analgesia between the two groups and also attempted to study the toxicity between the two groups after the tourniquet is released. METHODS This is an observational study. Institutional Ethics Committee approval and written informed consent were obtained. Fifty patients in the age group 20-60 years belonging to ASA physical status 1 were selected to participate in the study. Both emergency as well as elective patients were included. RESULTS Minimum period of post-operative analgesia in the dexmedetomidine group (study group) was 180 mins. and maximum was 540 mins. with a mean value of 343.2 mins., in the control group it was varied from 5 mins. to 30 mins. with a mean of 17.8 mins. CONCLUSIONS Addition of 0.5 µg/Kg of dexmedetomidine along with 0.5% preservative free lignocaine can be recommended for intravenous regional analgesia of extremity surgeries as it offers a simple, inexpensive and safe means of good quality postoperative analgesia.
