Study of dexmedetomidine as an intrathecal adjuvant to ropivacaine for hemodynamic stability and for postoperative analgesia

Background: Various adjuvants that can be added to local anesthetics and administered in central neuraxial blockade are Opioids, α2 agonists, benzodiazepines. Knowledge and use of adjuvant drug therapy has rendered neuraxial analgesia more effective in the management of both acute and chronic pain conditions. α-2 adrenergic agonists have both analgesic and sedative properties when used as adjuvant in regional anaesthesia. Aim: To study the effects of intrathecal dexmedetomidine added to ropivacaine for surgeries under spinal anesthesia. Materials and methods: Clinical study conducted on 50 patients of ASA PS 1 and 2 in the age group of 18-50 years of either sex posted for elective lower limb orthopaedic and lower abdominal surgeries under spinal anaesthesia. Results: Subjects among the age groups and the mean age of study population was 40 years (SD: ±11.5). 66% (n=33) of study population were male and 34% (n=17) were female. Most of the study population had healthy BMI. 76% (n= 38) of subjects belonged to ASA grade 1 and 34% (n=12) subjects belonged to ASA grade 2. The average duration of surgery was 94.4 min ± 34.4 min. Level of sensory block was T6 in 24 (48%) of subjects, T4 in 17 (34%) of subjects, T8 in 6 (12%) and T2 in 3 (6%) of subjects. The mean duration for onset of Sensory block was 4.12 minutes (SD: ± 1.69) and the mean duration for onset of motor block was 10.12 minutes (SD: ± 2.89). Hypotension was observed in 3 patients after SAB (Fall in SBP > 20%) after 4 to 6 min. The mean RSS was 2.08 with SD 0.27. Side effects observed were mainly hypotension, nausea and shivering. Conclusions: 5 microgram dexmedetomidine is alternative as an adjuvant to spinal ropivacaine in surgical procedures. It has excellent quality of postoperative analgesia with minimal side effects.