Effect of Opioid-Free Anesthesia (OFA) on Postoperative Pain and Perioperative Nausea and Vomiting in Elective Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy.

The ongoing opioid crisis represents a significant public health challenge, with surgical prescriptions being a major contributor to chronic opioid use and misuse. Recent epidemiological data indicate that 4-6% of opioid- naïve patients develop persistent opioid use postoperatively, with laparoscopic cholecystectomy patients being particularly vulnerable due to moderate postoperative pain . Despite being a minimally invasive procedure, laparoscopic cholecystectomy consistently ranks among the most common general surgical procedures worldwide, with over 1 million performed annually in the United States alone. This frequency amplifies the population-level impact of postoperative prescribing patterns . Previous studies have demonstrated the efficacy of individual components-dexmedetomidine for hemodynamic stabilization, lidocaine infusions for visceral analgesia, and regional techniques like erector spinae plane (ESP) blocks-but their synergistic effects remain underexplored . A recent scoping review highlighted that while opioid-sparing (OS) effects are frequently reported, evidence for clinically meaningful outcomes (e.g., reduced ventilation time, accelerated functional recovery) remains limited . The pathophysiology of post-cholecystectomy pain involves both somatic (abdominal wall) and visceral (diaphragmatic irritation, biliary spasm) components, necessitating a multimodal approach. Opioids inadequately address inflammatory mediators while introducing risks of respiratory depression, postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV), ileus, and hemodynamic instability. Emerging evidence suggests that α-2 agonists (e.g., dexmedetomidine) and NMDA ant