Comparative Evaluation of the Intravenous Dexmedetomidine and Nalbuphine for Treatment of Post Spinal Shivering-A Randomized Prospective Trial.

Background: Shivering is one of the most common complications of spinal anesthesia because of inhibition of the thermoregulatory control. Dexmedetomidine and nalbuphine are the two commonly used drugs for treatment of perioperative shivering, but owing to paucity of their comparative data, we planned this study to compare the efficacy of these two drugs for treatment of post spinal shivering.

Methods: This study was conducted on 80 American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status I or II patients aged from 18 to 60 years who developed post-spinal shivering of grade III or IV during elective surgeries. These patients were randomly allocated into two groups (40 each). In group D, dexmedetomidine 0.50 μg/kg, and in group N, nalbuphine 0.08 mg/kg was given intravenously for treatment of shivering. Data regarding response time, recurrence rate and success rate along with their adverse effects were noted, and statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software version 17.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA).

Results: The mean response time was significantly shorter in group D as compared to Group N (1.9 ± 0.6 min and 4.7 ± 1.1 min, respectively; P ＜ 0.001), but the success rate in both groups was 100%. Recurrence of shivering was greater in group N as compared to group D, but this difference was statistically insignificant. Although hypotension and bradycardia were observed more in group D and nausea was observed more in group N, the difference among both the groups was statistically insignificant.

Conclusions: Dexmedetomidine is a better alternative than nalbuphine for treatment of post spinal shivering with quicker response time and comparable side effects.