Background An essential part of anesthesia is the management of pain both during and after surgery. As a result, anaesthesiologists are always trying to provide the finest anesthetic technique feasible, emphasizing minimal adverse effects and efficient perioperative pain relief. Aim To evaluate the effects of intrathecal hyperbaric bupivacaine and varying dosages of dexmedetomidine on spinal anesthesia and its analgesic effects after surgery in patients having infraumbilical abdominal procedures. Patients and methods This prospective randomized double-blinded trial involved 90 patients scheduled for infraumbilical abdominal surgeries in Tanta University Hospitals. Patients were assigned at random to one of three groups: group (D) administered (0.5% hyperbaric bupivacaine 12.5 mg (5 mg/ml)+dexmedetomidine 4 μg in 1 ml normal saline), group (DI) administered (0.5% hyperbaric bupivacaine 12.5 mg (5 mg/ml)+dexmedetomidine 8 μg in 1 ml normal saline), and group (DII) administered (0.5% hyperbaric bupivacaine 12.5 mg (5 mg/ml)+dexmedetomidine 10 μg in 1 ml normal saline). Results At 4 and 8 h, groups DI and DII had substantially lower visual analog scale scores than group D. The time to initial rescue painkiller was statistically significant longer in groups DI and DII than in group D. Group DI and DII consumed much less morphine than group D. Conclusion The incorporation of intrathecal dexmedetomidine to hyperbaric bupivacaine substantially enhances postoperative analgesia, with a dose-related impact on sensory and motor blockade durations, analgesic consumption, and sedation levels.
El-Akarra et al. (Wed,) studied this question.