A prospective study of comparing efficacy of combined clonidine to intrathecal hyperbaric bupivacaine and bupivacaine alone in post-operative analgesia

Abstract

Background: Objective of the is to compare the efficacy of combined clonidine to intrathecal hyperbaric bupivacaine and bupivacaine alone on post operativie analgesla in lower limb ortho surgeries and the side effects of clonidine.Methodology: To assess efficacy of 2 doses of intrathecal clonidine added to bupivacaine for postoperative pain relief following orthopedic surgeries of lower limb. This was a randomized, double blind, controlled study involving 75 patients divided into three groups C, C1, C2 of 25 each.Results: In our study, the mean duration of postoperative analgesia was 158.60 min in group C as compared to 349.20 min in group C1 and 623.56 min in group C2. This showed that clonidine produces dose dependent increase in the duration of postoperative analgesiaConclusion: Addition of clonidine to intrathecal bupivacaine prolonged the duration and efficacy of postoperative analgesia, but increased the incidence of mild side effects.