The Effect of Adding Magnesium Sulfate to Local Anesthetic in Patients Undergoing Middle Ear Surgery

BACKGROUND: The use of local anesthesia has been proved to be beneficial in ear surgeries. AIMS: This study was conducted to compare between local anesthesia alone and in combination with magnesium sulphate as an adjuvant in ear operations. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This prospective study included a total of 164 cases prepared for elective ear surgeries were included. They were divided into two equal groups, group C or control group included cases who received local anesthesia alone, and group M which included cases who received local anesthesia in addition to magnesium sulphate. Ear ring block was performed in all cases. Monitoring of blood pressure, heart rate, and oxygen saturation was performed. Post-operative pain was assessed by visual analogue score. The total analgesic time and total analgesic requirement were recorded. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: IBM's SPSS statistics (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) for windows (version 25, 2017) was used for statistical analysis of the collected data. Shapiro-Wilk test was used to check the normality of the data distribution. All tests were conducted with 95% confidence interval. P (probability) value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Charts were generated using SPSS’ chart builder and Microsoft Excel for windows 2019. RESULTS: The onset of sensory blockade was significantly earlier in the Mg group. Mg group showed a significant decrease in intraoperative and post-operative analgesic consumption. In addition, the first request for analgesia after operation was markedly delayed in the Mg group compared to controls. Regarding intraoperative VAS, it was significantly lower in the Mg group compared to controls at 15-minute reading. Post-operative VAS was significantly lower in Mg group during the first two hours. CONCLUSION: Addition of magnesium to local anesthesia causes early onset of sensory blockade, delayed call first for analgesia, and better VAS scores during the early post-operative period.