Effects of Epidural Dexamethasone for Post-Operative Analgesia in Patients Undergoing Abdominal Hysterectomy

Abstract

Background: Slow pain is also known as burning pain, aching pain, and throbbing pain or noxious pain. It is transmitted by unmyelinated type C fibres at a velocity of0.5-2m/sec. The threshold for stimulation is higher than A?fibres and is responsible for more delayed burning pain. It is usually associated with tissue destruction and can lead to prolonged unbearable suffering. Subjects and Methods: 60 ASA 2and 3 patients of age group 45-60 years, scheduled for  total abdominal hysterectomy for premenopausal bleeding. Patients were excluded if they had a history of peptic ulcer diseases, had contraindication to epidural anaesthesia(back fusion,coagulopathy,local infection) or failure to achieve epidural analgesia. Patients were also excluded if they were obese, diabetic, had received corticosteroids or immunosuppressive drugs in the last 6 months or if they had contraindication to corticosteroids. Results: This study revealed that addition of 8 mg dexamethasone to epidural bupivacaine pre-operatively to patients undergoing laproscopichystrectomy is more efficient t. All the  dexamethasone groups achieve better results than the control Group D0 (Max VAS 6, 0% decrease in analgesic requirements, all patients required post-operative analgesia, low patient satisfaction Score 6.7 0.75. Conclusion: No difference in post-operative glucose levels between the control group and all dexamethasone groups.