Postoperative reduction pain with dexamethasone after laparoscopic colon surgery

Background / Objective. Dexamethasone has antiemetic and analgesic effects in various types of surgery. The optimal doses of dexamethasone in the management of pain after laparoscopic surgery are not well defined. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the dose-dependent analgesic effects of dexamethasone after laparoscopic colon surgery. Patients and methods. Sixty patients after laparoscopic colon surgery were included in the study. The patients were randomized to receive saline (group D0), dexamethasone 4 mg (group D4), 8 mg (group D8) and 12 mg (group D12) intravenously during the induction of anesthesia. The same anesthetic technique was used to all these patients. The visual analog scale score for pain and the amounts of the analgesics were recoded 24 h after surgery. Results. The total doses of ketolgan, paracetamol and tramadol in the first 24 hours postoperatively were smaller in the D8 and D12 groups than in the D0 and D4 groups (p < 0.05). No difference in analgesic requirement was found between the D0 and D4 groups. No increase in the analgesic effectiveness or reduction of opioid use could be demonstrated in the D8 and D12 groups. Conclusion. Intravenous dexamethasone (8 mg) during anesthesia induction is effective in reducing analgesic requirement during the first postoperative day after laparoscopic colon surgery