A comparative study of the effect of clonidine, fentanyl, and the combination of both as adjuvant to intrathecal bupivacaine for postoperative analgesia in total abdominal hysterectomy

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The aim of this study was to evaluate the level of sensory block, onset and duration of motor block, postoperative analgesia, and adverse effects of combination of clonidine and fentanyl given intrathecally with hyperbaric bupivacaine (HB). MATERIAL AND METHODS: Three hundred and twenty eight patients were randomized into four groups. Group bupivacaine (group B) received 15 mg of HB; group bupivacaine clonidine (group BC) received 15 mg of HB plus 25 μg clonidine; group bupivacaine fentanyl (group BF) received 15 mg of HB plus 25 μg fentanyl and group bupivacaine clonidine fentanyl (group BCF) received 15 mg of HB plus 25 μg clonidine and 25 μg fentanyl intrathecally. All groups were evaluated for level of sensory block, onset and duration of motor block, postoperative analgesia, VAS score, sedation score and adverse effects of study drugs. All the data were analyzed using unpaired t-test. P < 0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: The level of sensory block, onset, and duration of motor block were comparable in all groups. Total duration of analgesia was 407.3 ± 20 min in group BCF compared to 242.1 ± 2 min and 209.2 ± 16 in groups BC and BF, respectively. Lesser doses of rescue analgesic were required in group BCF. The time interval from intrathecal injection to two-segment regression was statistically significant in study groups. Only 2.4% patients showed mild sedation in BCF group. CONCLUSION: We found that combination of intrathecal clonidine and fentanyl along with bupivacaine increases the total duration of analgesia without significant side effects.