Dexmedetomidine versus fentanyl on stress response and pain control in adult patients undergoing laparoscopic surgery

Abstract

Laparoscopic procedures are widely indicated; however, the ideal approach for pain control remains debatable. This trial compared between the effects of dexmedetomidine and fentanyl infusion on stress response and pain control in patients undergoing elective laparoscopic surgeries. A prospective randomized double-blinded comparative study included 82 adult participants randomly allocated into two equal-sized groups. Group D received 1 µg/kg of intravenous (IV) dexmedetomidine over 10 min as a loading dose just before induction of anesthesia, then 0.2–0.7 µg/kg/h till 10 min before the surgery ends. Group F received 1 µg/kg of IV fentanyl as a loading dose, then 0.2–0.7 µg/kg/h. Primary objective was postoperative analgesic consumption in 24 h. Collected data were heart rate (HR), mean arterial blood pressure (MAP), blood glucose and serum cortisol levels, visual analogue score (VAS), and the perioperative analgesic consumption. Group D consumed significantly less postoperative morphine doses in 24 h (p = 0.003), and 41.5% of Group D patients did not need any postoperative morphine. Group D had better-controlled hemodynamic changes 5 min post-extubation (HR and MAP p = 0.021 and p = 0.022 respectively), showed significantly less postoperative stress response as manifested in the blood glucose and serum cortisol levels 4 h postoperatively (p = 0.006 and p = 0.001 respectively), and less VAS pain scores at early and late postoperative periods. Intraoperative IV dexmedetomidine administration as a sole analgesic agent for patients undergoing elective laparoscopic surgeries serves as a convenient anesthetic approach, since it provided a good postoperative pain control, and reduced the surgical stress response and the perioperative analgesic consumption.