A comparison of postoperative analgesia between intrathecal nalbuphine with levobupivacaine 0.5% and intrathecal levobupivacaine 0.5% alone in intra abdominal surgeries

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:

           Regional anaesthesia has emerged as an important technique, with rapid onset of action and good muscle relaxation and relatively simplicity of administration. Intrathecal anaesthesia is widely used regional anaesthesia technique  with effective sensory and motor blockade. Racemic bupivacaine is the most frequently used local anaesthetic agent for intrathecal anaesthesia. There are  also undesirable side effects associated with bupivacaine such as cardiotoxicity, CNS toxicity as well as prolonged motor blockade. Levobupivacaine , a pure S(–) enantiomer of bupivacaine , has emerged in recent years as an alternative for regional anaesthesia with desirable properties such as low cardio toxicity , less motor blockade.¹