"Comparison between epidural Ropivacaine and Ropivacaine Clonidine combination for infraumbilical surgeries.A prospective,randomized clinical study"

Background:Neuraxial adjuvants augment the action of Local anaesthetics Aims and Objective:  Aim to determine the quqlitative and quantitative aspects of epidural ropivacaine 0.75% and epidural ropivacaine 0.75% clonidine 75mcg combination for infraumbilical surgeries Material and Methods: 80 patients of ASA-I and ASA-II grades aged between 18-60 years who underwent infraumbilical surgeries were included randomly into two clinical study groups comprising 40 patients in each study group.Epidural anaesthesia was administered with 20ml of ropivacaine 0.75%(GROUP-R) and 20 ml of epidural ropivacaine 0.75% and clonidine 75mcg combination(GROUP-RC).Parameters of observation are demographic data,onset of sensory ,onset of motor ,highest level of sensory block ,duration of motor block,duration of sensory analgesia and hemodynamic parameters like NIBP,HR,RR,SPo2 and adverse events were observed and recorded. Result: Eighty patients were enrolled in this study and were subjected to statistical analysis.Groups were comparable with regard to demographic data and incidences of side effects except for the higher incidence of dry mouth in patients of RC group.Onset of analgesia was much shorter in RC group with prolonged duration of analgesia.The incidences of bradycardia and hypotension was more in RC group as compared to R group which was statistically significant.The dose requirement for postoperative period [ain relief was significantly lesser in RC group. Conclusion: The addition of 75mcg clonidine to isobaric epidural ropivacaine results in longer,complete and effective analgesia with similar block properties and helped to reduce the effective dose of ropivacaine when compared with plain ropivacaine for infraumbilical surgeries.