Comparison of Standard Analgesia versus Intra-Operative Local Anesthesia in Postoperative Pain Management Among Patients Undergoing Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy

Objective: To compare standard analgesia alone versus addition of intra-operative local anesthesia in postoperative pain management among patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Study Design: Quasi experimental study. Place and Duration of Study: Combined Military Hospital, Multan Pakistan, from Jul 2022 to Apr 2023. Methodology: Eighty (n=80) patients were divided in two equal groups by draws method (Group A and B). Group A was managed by standard analgesia plus intra–operative local anesthesia while group B was managed by only standard analgesia. Post-operative pain assessment was done using visual analogue scale after every hour for 24hours. SPSS version 23 was used to analyze the data. Mean pain score in both groups was compared by applying independent sample t-test at 0.05 level of significance. Results; A total of eight variables were compared in the two groups. Variables like age (p=0.333), gender (p=0.817), residential status (p=0.464), socioeconomic status (p=0.803) and associated comorbid like diabetes Mellitus (p=0.554), hypertension (p=0.488) and obesity (p=0.791) were comparable in both the groups. However, Median Pain Score (visual analogue scale) was significantly lower (p=0.001) in group A compared to group B. Conclusion; Addition of local anesthesia in group A patients resulted in less postoperative pain as compared to group B patients receiving standard analgesia only. Hence all clinicians treating such patients should employ intra–operative local anesthesia for better postoperative pain management.