To Study the Efficacy of Intravenous Dexamethasone in Prolonging the Duration of intrathecal isobaric levo-bupivacaine in Elective Cesarean Section

Shobha V; Aditya Kumar; Hema Saxena

Volume : IX, Issue : IV, April - 2020

To Study the Efficacy of Intravenous Dexamethasone in Prolonging the Duration of intrathecal isobaric levo-bupivacaine in Elective Cesarean Section

Shobha V, Aditya Kumar, Hema Saxena

Abstract :

Background and Aims: Evaluation for the purpose of enhancing quality of analgesia and prolonging duration of spinal anesthesia by adding various additives have been done. Methods: A randomized, double–blind study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of intravenous dexamethasone in sixty patients scheduled for lower segment cesarean section under spinal anesthesia,were randomly allocated into two groups, group LD(n=30) and group LS(n=30).All the patients received intrathecal injection of isobaric levo–bupivacaine 0.5% heavy 10 mg. Group LD and Group LS received injection dexamethasone 8 mg intravenously and normal saline (NS) 2 cc respectively immediately after spinal anesthesia. Characteristics of block, visual analog pain scale (VAS) score, time of rescue analgesia, total analgesic requirement in the first 24 h, intra– and post–operative hemodynamics, nausea and vomiting or any other side effects were recorded. Results: The mean duration of sensory block (min) in group LD and group LS was 168.4�2.33 mins and 122.6� 1.87 mins , respectively which was highly significant. Similarly, time to the requirement of first rescue analgesia was prolonged in group LD (7.8 h) as compared to group LS (4.25 h). Significant changes were also seen in VAS score in postoperative period after 1 h of surgery in group LD and group LS. The incidence of PONV was significantly high in group LS (18 patients) in comparison to group LD (1 patient). Conclusion: We concluded that administration of dexamethasone 8 mg intravenously prolongs the duration of postoperative analgesia and sensory block in patients undergoing lower segment cesarean section with intrathecal isobaric levo–bupivacaine.