Analgesic efficacy of dexamethasone versus dexmedetomidine as an adjuvant to ropivacaine in ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane block for post-operative pain relief in caesarean section: A prospective randomised controlled study.

Background And Aims: Transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block is commonly used to treat post-operative pain after lower abdominal surgeries. The aim of this randomised controlled study was to assess the efficacy of addition of dexmedetomidine or dexamethasone to ropivacaine in TAP block and compare the two for post-operative pain relief in caesarean section.

Methods: A hundred parturients (18-45 years) undergoing caesarean section under spinal anaesthesia received ultrasound-guided (USG) bilateral TAP block with 50ml of 3mg/kg ropivacaine along with 0.1mg/kg dexamethasone (Group A) or 1μg/kg dexmedetomidine (Group B) in this prospective, randomised, double-blind study. Time to initial self-reporting of post-operative pain, time to first rescue analgesic demand, visual analogue scale (VAS) for pain haemodynamic parameters and adverse effects if any were noted, anda value < 0.005 was considered as statistically significant.

Results: Time to initial self-reporting of post-operative pain (411.35 vs. 338.20 min, < 0.005) and time to first rescue analgesic (474.30 vs. 407.30 min, < 0.005) were significantly longer in group B as compared to group A. VAS score at the time of initial self-reporting of pain was significantly lower in group B. No significant haemodynamic changes or side-effects were noted.

Conclusion: Addition of dexmedetomidine to ropivacaine as compared with dexamethasone in bilateral TAP block following caesarean section prolongs the time to initial post-operative pain and time to first rescue analgesic consumption.