EFFICACY OF INTRAVENOUS ACETAMINOPHEN VERSUS KETAMINE FOR POSTOPERATIVE PAIN AFTER ABDOMINAL HYSTERECTOMY

Objective; To determine the efficacy of intravenous acetaminophen versus ketamine for postoperative pain after abdominal hysterectomy. Material and Methods; A total of 114 women undergoing abdominal hysterectomy were taken in this study. The study was conducted from June 2017 to May 2018 at department of Anesthesiology, Nishtar Hospital, Multan. Results; Our study comprised of 114 ladies undergoing abdominal hysterectomy, mean age of the study cases was 54.13 ± 6.89 years (with minimum age of the patients was 39 years while maximum age was 68 years). Majority of our study cases i.e. 92 (80.7 %) had parity more than 3 and American Society of Anesthesiology (ASA) score level 1 in 93 (81.6%). Sixty one (53.1%) belonged to rural areas, while mean duration of surgery was 72.80 ± 11.32 minutes. Mean BMI level in our study cases was noted to be 23.98 ±4.17 Kg/m2 and obesity was present in 34 (29.8%) of our study cases. Efficacy was noted in 60 (52.6 %) of our study cases. Efficacy was 73.7% study cases in group A while 18 (31.6%) in group B (p=0.000). Conclusion; Our study results support the use of intravenous acetaminophen (IVA) for pain management in patients undergoing abdominal hysterectomy compared with ketamine. Intravenous acetaminophen is safe, reliable and effective for the pain management in postoperative abdominal hysterectomy patients which was associated with shorter hospital stay and cost effective for the suffering families. No adverse reactions were noted in this study with the use of intravenous acetaminophen