Postoperative analgesia after laparoscopic cholecystectomy by preemptive use of intravenous paracetamol or ketorolac: A comparative study

Abstract

Background: Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is associated with postoperative pain due operative ports site and residual intraperitoneal gas CO 2 . Preemptive analgesia is one of the promising strategies of postoperative pain relief. The present study is undertaken to compare the efficacy of preemptive intravenous paracetamol versus ketorolac for post operative analgesia after laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Method: Ninety adult consented patients 18-58 yr of age, of either sex, of ASA grade I/II were randomized into two equal groups of 45 patients each. Patients of group I received infusion of paracetamol 1 g and group II received infusion of ketorolac 30 mg, 30 minutes before the induction of general anaesthesia. Postoperative pain was evaluated by standard 10 cm linear visual analogue scale at different time intervals. When VAS was more than 3 rescue analgesic 50 mg tramadol intravenously stat was given. Intraoperative hemodynamic and any side effects were also recorded for statistical analysis. Results: Demographic profile and hemodynamic parameters i.e intraoperative heart rate and mean arterial blood pressure were comparable in both the groups. Post operative VAS scores were persistently higher in paracetamol group with statistically significant difference (P value < 0.05). All 45 patients in paracetamol group and 8 patients in ketorolac group required rescue analgesic within 6 hrs of study time. Total tramadol consumption was much higher (2250 mg) in paracetamol group as compared to 400 mg in ketorolac group. Conclusion: Preemptive use of ketorolac exerted superior postoperative analgesia after laparoscopic cholecystectomy in comparison to paracetamol without any significant side effect.