@article{B_Falgunan_2019, title={Effect of Intravenous Bolus Infusion of Dexmedetomidine on the Duration of Epidural Analgesia with Ropivacaine for Below Umbilical Surgeries in Adult Patients}, volume={4}, url={https://aijournals.com/index.php/aan/article/view/533}, DOI={10.21276/aan.2019.4.1.5}, abstractNote={<p><strong>Background: </strong>Epidural anaesthesia is one of the most popular, reliable, safe and easy neuraxial technique to administer and widely used procedure for operative anaesthesia, obstetric analgesia, postoperative pain control and chronic pain management. Epidural anaesthesia is obtained by blocking the spinal nerves in epidural space as the nerves emerge from the dura and pass in to the intervertebral foramina. Duration of epidural anaesthesia may be prolonged by addition of opioids, clonidine, neostigmine, or vasoconstrictor agents to the local anesthetic drug for better post operative pain relief. This study is designed to investigate the effect of intravenous bolus infusion of dexmedetomidine on the duration of epidural analgesia with ropivacaine for below umbilical surgeries in adult patients and its associated adverse events. <strong>Aims of study:</strong> To determine the effect of intravenous bolus infusion of dexmedetomidine on the duration of epidural analgesia with ropivacaine for below umbilical surgeries in adult patients and to assess the incidence of intra operative side-effects. <strong>Subjects and Methods:</strong> A double blind prospective randomised control study was done. Patients were allocated in to two study groups, named A and B using computer generated randomization. <strong>Results: </strong>The duration of analgesia of epidural block with isobaric 0.5% ropivacaine with intravenous infusion of saline and dexmedetomidine were compared. Post-operative pain was evaluated by Visual Analogue Scale. Duration of analgesia is the time taken from the administration of the drug to the time when the patient complains of pain of &gt; 50 in Visual Analogue Scale. The duration of analgesia was longest in patients received intravenous dexmedetomidine along with epidural ropivacaine. <strong>Conclusion: </strong>In conclusion, Intravenous infusion of dexmedetomidine added to epidural block with ropivacaine offered prolonged analgesia in below umbilical Surgeries in adult patients without increasing the incidence of adverse effects.</p&gt;}, number={1}, journal={Academia Anesthesiologica International}, author={B, Rakeshkumar and Falgunan, Deepak}, year={2019}, month={Mar.}, pages={19-23} }