Dexmedetomidine as an Adjuvant to Bupivacaine in Bilateral Pectoral Nerve Blocks for Postoperative Pain Control After Cardiac Surgeries: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: Good postoperative analgesia in cardiac surgical patients helps in early recovery and ambulation. An alternative to parenteral, paravertebral, and thoracic epidural analgesia can be pectoralis nerve (Pecs) block, which is a novel, less invasive regional analgesic technique.

The study aims to test the quality of analgesia provided by dexmedetomidine as an adjuvant to bupivacaine bilateral PECs block in patients scheduled for cardiothoracic surgeries with median sternotomy incision.

sixty adult patients between the age groups of 25 and 65 years undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting or valve surgeries through midline sternotomy under general anesthesia were enrolled in the study. Patients were randomly allocated into two groups with 30 ineach group. Group 1 patients will receive bilateral Pecs block, whereas Group 2 patients will receive bilateral Pecs block with dexameditomedine postoperatively. Patients will be extubated once they fulfilled extubation criteria. Ventilator duration will be recorded. Patients will be interrogated for pain by visual analog scale (VAS) scoring at rest and cough. Inspiratory flow rate will be assessed using incentive spirometry.