A Comparative Study of Intra Muscular Nalbuphine with Intra Muscular Butorphanol for the Relief of Postoperative Pain

Abstract

Aims And Objectives: This study compared the analgesic efficacy of intramuscularly administered Nalbuphine with respect to onset, quality and duration of pain relief and side effect profile with to those of Butorphanol IM in the immediate postoperative period. Materials And Methods: 60 adult patients of ASA Class 1 and 2 of either sex, belonging to age 21-60 years, posted for lower abdominal and lower limb surgeries done under spinal anaesthesia were randomly divided into 2 groups-Group A-Nalbuphine group and Group B-Butorphanol group. In the postoperative period patients were asked to express the intensity of pain on the VAS scale. When it reached ˃5 mark on the scale, patients in Group A received Nalbuphine 10mg and patients in Group B received Butorphanol 2mg intramuscularly. Thereafter, onsets, duration, quality of analgesia were recorded at regular intervals for 24hours postoperatively. Results: The mean time of onset of analgesia in Group A was 14.66±4.34 minutes and in Group B was 34.76±5.73. Duration of analgesia in Group A ranged from 4-12 hours with a mean 6.05 ± 3.14 hours. In Group B, it ranged from 4-8 hours with a mean 5.20 ± 0.71 hours. Regarding quality of analgesia, in Group A, 43.3% of patients had pain score of 3 with 36.7% of patients had pain score of 3 in Group B. Conclusion: Intra muscular Nalbuphine, when compared to Butorphanol, provides an effective analgesia with rapid onset, prolonged duration and stable hemodynamic parameters for postoperative pain relief. This drug is suitable for providing postoperative analgesia following moderate duration of surgical procedures.