Article Text
Abstract
Background and aims Our aim was to determine the effect of Gabapentin on acute pain in the immediate postoperative period in paediatric patients undergoing urogenital surgeries under general anaesthesia.
Methods After approval by the Institutional Ethical Committee, 60 patients of ages 8 to 17 years scheduled to undergo elective surgeries were included. After obtaining a written, informed consent, on the day of the surgery, the patients were administered 5 ml of milk, with (Group A) or without (Group B) 15 mg/kg of Gabapentin 2 hours prior to surgery. All patients were subjected to induction with injection Propofol 2 mg/kg, vecuronium (0.1 mg/kg), fentanyl (2 mic/kg), patients were maintained on air + sevoflurane mixture. Postoperatively, patients were given Fentanyl boluses until either the Numeric Rating Score (NRS) <3 or the Respiratory Rate (RR) was <12. The observer assessed pain on NRS and sedation on Ramsay Sedation Scale (RSS) at 0, 1, 4, 8, 16, and 24 hours.
Results The demographic data was comparable. The results showed that there was significant decrease in the intraoperative and postoperative requirement of Fentanyl in Group I (0.733+_0.47, 0.916+_0.343 micrograms) compared to Group II (1.216+_0.512, 1.333+_0.4887 micrograms) respectively. The time for first rescue analgesic was significantly higher in Group I (6.033+_1.70 hours) vs that in Group II (3.866+_0.76 hours). The NRS were significantly lower and RSS were higher in the first 4 hours in Group I vs Group II
Conclusions The preoperative administration of Gabapentin (15 mg/kg) reduces the intraoperative consumption, postoperative consumption of Fentanyl during the first four hours and delays the demand for first rescue analgesic.