Comparative Study between Analgesic Effects of Intrathecal Administration of Midazolam Versus Tramadol with Bupivacaine for Infra-Umbilical Surgeries

Abstract

Background: The administration of bupivacaine intrathecally as a regional anesthesia is commonly used to provide anesthesia for lower abdominal surgeries. The motor blockage of bupivacaine provides adequate blockage, which allows the surgeons to do their work comfortably and also provides effective postoperative analgesia in early postoperative period. However, adding adjuvants to the local anesthetics to prolong the period of postoperative analgesia after fading of the spinal anesthesia was tried in many studies. These supplements as regard to postoperative pain relief are beneficial as they decrease or abolish the need for the administration of analgesics and their associated complications. Objective: To compare the analgesic effect of intrathecal midazolam versus intrathecal tramadol when added to bupivacaine during spinal anesthesia after infra-umbilical surgeries. Patients and methods: In our study we included 80 patients scheduled for elective surgeries in the lower abdomen and lower limbs (infra-umbilical surgeries) under spinal anesthesia. They were randomly divided to one of two groups. Group M received 10 mg of hyperbaric bupivacaine + 2 mg midazolam, and group T received 10 mg of bupivacaine + 20 mg of tramadol (total is 3cc in both groups). The comparison was done by using the visual analogue scale (VAS) for assessing postoperative pain score and recording the duration of postoperative analgesia. Results: The postoperative analgesia duration was significantly higher in the tramadol group than midazolam group (P<0.05). Conclusion: Addition of 20 mg tramadol to bupivacaine during spinal anesthesia provides longer duration of analgesia when compared to intrathecal midazolam 2.0 mg.