Comparison of postoperative analgesic effects of gelfoam soaked with ropivacaine 0.5% and gelfoam soaked with dexamethasone 8 mg with placebo in single-level lumbar laminectomy

Background: Pain management is a major challenge after any surgery. Painful experiences in post operative period leads to unwanted side effects like altered metabolic response, aggravated autonomic reflexes, causing ileus, nausea, impairs coagulation, delays wound healing and delays mobilization. To prevent such effects we use opioids, local anaesthetics and NSAIDs. In this study we aimed to compare the postoperative analgesic effects of gelfoam Soaked with ropivacaine and gelfoam soaked with dexamethasone with Placebo in a single-level lumbar laminectomy. Materials and Methods: 98 patients scheduled to undergo single-level lumbar laminectomy under general anesthesia in the age group between 18 and 60 years were enrolled in the study. They were randomly divided in three equal groups. Data was collected for post operative pain score and other side effects. All tests were evaluated for 95% confidence limits. P <0.05 was considered significant. Results: VAS score in placebo was 4.133 ± 1.105, in ropivacaine group was 1.866 ± 0.899 and in ropivacaine with dexamethasone group was 1.7 ± 0.749, which was highly significant with P < 0.0001. Total analgesia consumption with tramadol was 279.1 ± 41.77 mg in the placebo group, 124.6 ± 43.44 mg in the ropivacaine group (R), and 97.7 ± 39.92 mg in the ropivacaine and dexamethasone group (RD). Conclusion: Gelfoam soaked in 0.5% ropivacaine and 0.9% NS when placed epidurally provides adequate postoperative analgesia. Gelfoam soaked in 0.5% ropivacaine and 2 mL dexamethasone when placed epidurally provides prolonged postoperative analgesia. No side effects were noted in the 0.5% ropivacaine and 2 mL dexamethasone group.