Intraperitoneal Levobupivacaine Alone or with Dexmedetomidine for Postoperative Analgesia after Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Local anesthetic injection in the peritoneal cavity decreases intensity of postoperative pain after laparoscopic surgeries. We compared adding dexmedetomidine to intraperitoneal levobupivacaine in patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy. METHODS: A total of 105 patients were included in this prospective, double-blinded, randomized study. Patients were randomly divided into three equal sized (n = 35) study groups. Group C patients received intraperitoneal 40 ml normal saline as controlled group. Group L was given 40 ml 0.25% levobupivacaine. Group LD received 40 ml 0.25% levobupivacaine + dexmedetomidine 1 μg/kg. The degree of postoperative pain was measured by visual analog scale (VAS) score. The time of first analgesic demand was recorded and also total dose of painkiller in the first 24 h and postoperative complications were collected. SPSS version 16 was used for statistical analysis. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: Postoperative VAS at different time intervals was significantly lower, time to the first demand of painkiller (min) was longer (30.2 ± 14.4, 45.9 ± 20.1, and 56.5 ± 13.2), and total painkiller consumption (mg) was lower (203.5 ± 42.9, 117.8 ± 63.7, and 46.3 ± 41.3) in Group LD than Group L than Group C. CONCLUSION: Adding dexmedetomidine to intraperitoneal levobupivacaine is superior to and gives better results than levobupivacaine alone in patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy.