Comparison of Postoperative Analgesic Effectiveness of Bupivacaine and Bupivacaine Plus Dexmedetomidine Wound Infiltration in Abdominal Surgeries under General Anesthesia

Abdominal surgeries were major surgical procedures that were performed at any teaching hospital. Pain control was a major concern during intra-operative as well as post-operative periods in these patients. Objective: To compare post-operative analgesic effectiveness of bupivacaine and bupivacaine plus dexmedetomidine wound infiltration in abdominal surgeries under General Anesthesia. Methods: This randomized controlled trial was conducted at the Department of Anesthesia, Sahiwal Teaching Hospital Sahiwal from 1st April, 2024 till 31st May 2024. Sixty-four patients underwent a pre-operative assessment on the day before surgery. Both Groups received wound infiltration with studied drugs at the end of surgery. After surgery, patients were assessed for pain using a Visual Analog Scale (VAS) and data was collected and analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26.0. Results: The mean post-operative analgesia duration of the patients on bupivacaine was 11.78 ± 1.64 but the mean post-operative analgesia duration of the patient on bupivacaine plus dexmedetomidine was 19.19 ± 2.49. (2-tailed significance 0.001). The mean opioid consumption in mg of the patients in bupivacaine was 20.69 ± 4.31 but the mean opioid consumption in mg of the patient in bupivacaine plus dexmedetomidine was 10.88 ± 4.53. (2-tailed significance 0.001). In bupivacaine, patients with bradycardia were 0% and patients without bradycardia were 100% but in bupivacaine plus dexmedetomidine, patients with bradycardia were 15.6% and patients without bradycardia were 84.4%. Conclusions: There was a difference in the analgesic effectiveness of dexmedetomidine when added to bupivacaine in wound infiltration in abdominal surgeries.