A Comparison between Bupivacaine Alone and Bupivacaine with Tramadol in Epidural Block for Postoperative Pain Management

Abstract

Objective: This study was designed to compare the mean pain score with bupivacaine versus tramadol plus bupivacaine in patients undergoing surgery under general anesthesia. Randomized Controlled Study. Anesthesia department of SIMS medical college/Services Hospital, Lahore. Duration is 13 months from 20th August2017 till 24th September 2018. Method: 80 patients aged 20-60 years of ASA I & II status, undergoing elective surgery were selected. Patients were randomly divided into two groups (Group A and B) of 40 each, using random numbers table. An epidural catheter was placed at L3-L4 intervertebral level. Group A was given 30 ml of 0.125% bupivacaine and Group B was given 25mg Tramadol plus 0.125% bupivacaine mixture in the same volume. General anesthesia was induced with IV Propofol 2mg/kg and atracurium 0.5mg/kg. After recovery from anesthesia, patients were shifted to HDU. Post-operative pain was assessed using the 10-point VAS score. Injection nalbuphine 0.1mg/kg was given as rescue analgesic when VAS score became more than 4. Results: The mean age of patient in Group A was 37.5 ± 9.1 years and 38.6 ± 7.0 years in Group B. Mean BMI in Group A was 33.2 ± 4.3 and 32.2 ± 4.2 in Group B. The mean pain score after 12 hours of surgery was 3.6 ± 0.8 in Group A and 1.5 ± 0.9 in Group B, p value was significant. Conclusion: Thus, the present study concludes that epidural administration of tramadol as adjuvant with bupivacaine is more effective in postoperative pain relief as compared to bupivacaine alone.