A Comparative Study of Epidural Butorphanol and Epidural Fentanyl for Postoperative pain relief in Lower Limb Orthopaedic Surgeries.

Background: Epidural narcotic agonists like fentanyl, and morphine has been studied as an adjunct to Bupivacaine for intraoperative and to provide epidural postoperative analgesia. Side effects like pruritus, nausea, vomiting, respiratory depression, and urinary retention occur with their use. The search for an effective analgesic with no or low incidence of side effects is continuing. Aims and objective: To evaluate the onset of anaesthesia, duration of analgesia with epidural administration of Butorphanol and fentanyl in 2 groups. Observe and compare side effects between these groups during post-operative period. Material and Methods: We had done this study on 60 patients with Orthopaedic fractures (lowerlimb), which are treated with IM IL nailing femur and tibia distributed to two groups of 30 each. Surgery was done under CSE technique, with Group A receiving butorphanol and Group B Fentanyl as adjuvant. The onset, duration of analgesia and side effects were recorded in each group. Results: The onset of analgesia was rapid in Fentanyl group (3.26+/- 0.95) than Butorphanol group (6.54 +/-1.10). Duration of analgesia was longer in Butorphanol group (330 +/- 62 minutes) in comparison to Fentanyl group (210 +/- 32 minutes). Quality of analgesia is better in Butorphanol group (80%) than Fentanyl group (43 %). Side effects were more in Group B than Group A. Conclusion: Epidural Fentanyl has faster onset of analgesia. Epidural Butorphanol has longer duration of analgesia with better quality of analgesia. Epidural butorphanol has fewer side effects when compared to Fentanyl.