A Comparative Assessment of Ropivacaine 0.25% With and Without Adjuvant (Dexmedetomidine) for Ultrasound Guided Modified Thoracoabdominal Nerve Block Through Perichondrial Approach (M-Tapa) in Laparoscopic Surgeries

Study objective: The study's objectives were: a) To evaluate the duration of analgesia in both groups and the time to first rescue analgesia. b) To evaluate analgesic efficacy by assessing postoperative pain using Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) score in both groups c) To evaluate complications related to the hemodynamics, drug, and procedure in both groups Design: Hospital-based comparative study. Setting: Patients aged 18-65 years posted for elective Laparoscopic surgeries under general anaesthesia at SRI SIDDHARTHA MEDICAL COLLEGE AND HOSPITAL, TUMKUR Patients: All Patients aged 18-65 years posted for elective Laparoscopic surgeries under general anaesthesia Measurements: Duration of Analgesia in patients post-procedure Main Results- Patients in Group A receiving ropivacaine with dexmedetomidine as an adjuvant experienced significantly lower pain scores from 3-9 hours (p<0.002), with a median time to first analgesic request of 736.56±59.82 minutes compared to 507.19±47.67 minutes in Group B (without adjuvant) with p-value <0.001. No statistically significant adverse events were noticed in either group. Conclusion- Dexmedetomidine when added as an adjuvant with ropivacaine in M-TAPA block significantly improves analgesia duration in patients undergoing abdominal laparoscopic procedures.