Pain Relief after Arthroscopic Knee Surgery- Intra-Articular Dexmedetomidine and Fentanyl: A Randomized Control Study

1 Assoc Prof, Department of Anaesthesiology, MKCG Medical College, Berhampur, Odisha 2 Prof, Department of Anaesthesiology, MKCG Medical College, Berhampur, Odisha Corresponding Author Dr Narayan Acharya Assoc Prof Department of Anaesthesiology, MKCG Medical College, Berhampur, Odisha Email: [email protected], Mobile no-7008115431 Abstract Background: No single ideal intra-articular drug has been found for postoperative pain management which is a common and distressing symptom after knee arthroscopy. This study was done to study the efficacy of intraarticular dexmedetomidine and fentanyl for postoperative pain relief in patients undergoing arthroscopic knee surgeries. Method: Fifty patients of American Society of Anaesthesiologists of grade I/II, aged 20-60 years posted for arthroscopic knee surgery were randomly divided into groups I (fentanyl group) and group II (dexmedetomidine group). 25 patients in group I received I μg/ kg of fentanyl diluted to 10 ml in normal saline and group II patients received I μg/kg of dexmedetomidine diluted to 10 ml in normal saline via intra-articular route at the end of the surgery. Visual analogue (VAS) score, time to give the first dose of analgesia and total dose of analgesic required in the first 24hr was recorded in each group. Results: VAS score was less and time to first analgesic requirement was greater in group II in comparison to group I which was statistically significant . Total dose of analgesic used in group II patients was significantly less compared to patients in group I which was statistically significant. Conclusion: Intra-articular dexmedetomidine is more potent in providing prolonged postoperative analgesia after arthroscopic knee surgeries and reduces the total dose of analgesic requirement postoperatively compared to fentanyl.