Effect on post Tonsillectomy pain control with IV and infiltrated dexamethasone and infiltrated bupivacaine: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objectives: To evaluate the effect on post tonsillectomy pain control with IV and infiltrated dexamethasone and infiltrated bupivacaine. Methodology: This randomized controlled trial study was conducted in the department of ENT and neck surgery of Holy Family hospital, Rawalpindi, over a period of one year from May 2019 to May 2020. A total of 140 pediatric patients were selected and were divided into four equal groups randomly by lottery method. Patients in all four groups had endotracheal intubation with general anesthesia. As premedication, all the patients received intravenous midazolam (1mg). Intravenous fentanyl (1.5mg/kg) and propofol (2.5 mg/kg) followed by endotracheal intubation facilitated with atracurium (0.5 mg/kg) were used as general anesthesia in all patients. Results: There was no significant (p-value >0.05) difference in gender, age of children, postoperative heart rate, postoperative SPO2, and fentanyl consumption. The duration of surgery was significantly (p-value < 0.05) different in all four groups. According to the results, no significant (p-value >0.05) difference was found based on postoperative nausea and vomiting and the requirement of antiemetics. The requirement of analgesics was significantly (p-value <0.05) different among four groups. Minimum number (22.86%) of patients who required the analgesic were in IV dexamethasone group and highest requirement rate (60%) was found in local dexamethasone group followed by bupivacaine (48.57%) group. Conclusion: Intravenous dexamethasone was found to be more effective for early postoperative pain control and reduction in requirement of analgesics. The use of dexamethasone can be a preferred choice in patients undergoing tonsillectomy