Ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane block: What are the benefits of adding dexmedetomidine to ropivacaine?

BACKGROUND: Ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block has recently come up as a modality to take care of postoperative pain. It can somewhat avoid the use of intravenous opioid analgesics and hence to avoid its complications. We have performed a prospective, double-blinded, randomized study to assess the analgesic effect of adding dexmedetomidine to local ropivacaine on TAP block for patients undergoing lower abdominal surgeries. AIM: The aim is to assess whether addition of dexmedetomidine to ropivacaine may bring some improvements to the analgesic efficacy of TAP blocks in patients undergoing lower abdominal surgeries. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was conducted on forty patients undergoing lower abdominal surgeries under general anesthesia. The patients were divided into two groups: one receiving plain ropivacaine (Group 1) and other receiving ropivacaine with dexmedetomidine (Group 2) during TAP block. The patients in the two groups were compared for age, sex, body mass index, incidence of postoperative nausea, and vomiting and pain as measured on visual analog scale (VAS). RESULTS: There was significantly lower pain score on VAS at 1, 3, 6, 12, and 18 h in Group 2 than in Group 1. CONCLUSION: The addition of dexmedetomidine to ropivacaine during TAP block improves analgesic effect of TAP block and prolongs the duration of analgesia as well.