Background: Patients with hip fractures will be experiencing excruciating pain, which would prevent the ideal positioning of the patient for the neuraxial blockade. There is growing interest in using regional nerve blocks for pain in the elderly associated with a fractured hip. Pericapsular Nerve Group (PENG) block is gaining popularity as a provider of adequate analgesia in patients suffering from a hip fracture. The present study aimed to assess the effectiveness of PENG block using ropivacaine alone or ropivacaine with dexamethasone in reducing pain scores during patient positioning for the central neuraxial blockade and to compare the duration of postoperative analgesia.Materials and methods: This randomized double-blinded study was conducted on patients posted for hip surgery under spinal anesthesia at a tertiary care referral hospital between January 2021 and May 2022. Twenty-eight patients (14 in each group) were randomly allocated to receive either group A (20 ml of 0.5% ropivacaine for PENG block) or Group B (20ml of 0.5% ropivacaine with 8mg Dexamethasone for PENG block) before patient positioning for subarachnoid block. Intra-operative hemodynamic variables, pain scores on a visual analog scale (VAS), at rest and with movement, before block, at the time of positioning for spinal anesthesia, time for first rescue analgesic request, and the total dosage of rescue analgesia in the first 24 hours after PENG block were measured.Results: Pain scores at rest and with movement at baseline and at the time of positioning for spinal anesthesia were significant within the groups (p< 0.01). The time for the first rescue analgesic requirement was significantly longer in group B (445.0 ±17.4 minutes) than in group A (388.9±19.0 minutes) (p<0.05). The mean average number of doses of rescue analgesia (Tramadol in milligrams) was significantly lower in group B (190 ± 60) than in group A patients (250 ± 70) (p<0.05). Conclusion:The present study documented the effectiveness of PENG for patient positioning during the neuraxial blockade. Further, the addition of dexamethasone as an adjunct to ropivacaine yields a significantly longer duration of postoperative analgesia with a lower postoperative analgesic requirement.

Background and objectivesBreast cancer is the most frequent cancer among women, globally. Postoperative pain after mastectomy not only causes slow recovery and prolonged hospital stay but can also increase the risk of chronic pain. For patients undergoing breast surgery, effective perioperative pain management is required. Various approaches have been introduced to overcome this, such as opioids, non-opioid analgesics, and regional blocks. The erector spinae plane block is a new regional anesthesia technique used in breast surgery to provide adequate intraoperative and postoperative analgesia. Opioid-free anesthesia is a multimodal analgesia technique that does not use opioids and thus prevents opioid tolerance after surgery. This study aims to investigate whether administering an opioid-free analgesic mixture lowers the pain score and the need for analgesics during and after surgery. Material and methodsIn this randomized prospective comparative clinical study, 66 patients of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) psychological status (PS) class 1 and 2, aged 18 to 80, were included. Group M received erector spinae plane block + general anesthesia + opioid-free analgesic mixture (1 mcg/cc dexmedetomidine + 1 mg/cc ketamine + 100 mg/cc magnesium sulfate prepared in a 20 ml syringe). Group N received erector spinae plane block + general anesthesia + 20ml of normal saline infusion. The primary outcome was to assess pain scores in the perioperative period. The secondary outcomes were to compare the time for the first rescue analgesia requirement perioperatively, intraoperative hemodynamic profile, and postoperative patient satisfaction. A p<0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. ResultsAll patients were females undergoing modified radical mastectomy or breast conservative surgery + axillary sampling + latissimus dorsi flap reconstruction. The visual analog scale (VAS) scores were less than or equal to 3 in zero, first, and second hours postoperatively in both groups. The pain was moderate i.e., less than 4 in almost all time intervals in both groups. Group M had a better intraoperative hemodynamic profile, including mean arterial pressure and heart rate when compared to group N. In group M, the time of request for rescue analgesia was 726.67±390.99 minutes, while it was 468±278.79 minutes in group N. The total analgesic requirement was less in group M than in group N, but this was not statistically significant. ConclusionMultimodal analgesia with erector spinae plane block and opioid-free analgesic mixture provides effective perioperative analgesia and a better intraoperative hemodynamic profile in patients undergoing breast cancer surgery under general anesthesia.

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Introduction: Transversus Abdominis Plane (TAP) block has been practised as an effective alternative to systemic analgesics to achieve adequate postoperative analgesia, with minimal systemic side effects. Dexmedetomidine, an alpha-2 agonist and nalbuphine, an opioid, have been studied as adjuvants to local anaesthetics to improve the analgesic profile of regional anaesthetic blocks. Aim: To compare the duration and quality of postoperative analgesia of dexmedetomidine and nalbuphine when used as adjuvants to ropivacaine for TAP block. Materials and Methods: This was a randomised double blinded study conducted on 60 patients undergoing total abdominal hysterectomies under spinal anaesthesia. Patients were randomly distributed into two groups of 30 patients each, to receive either 39 mL of 0.2% ropivacaine+50 μg dexmedetomidine (1 mL) (group D) or 39 mL of 0.2% ropivacaine+10 mg nalbuphine (1 mL) (group N), for bilateral TAP block. Postoperative pain scores, time for first rescue analgesic request and incidence of side effects were compared. Results: Duration of postoperative analgesia was similar in both groups (409.14±48.92 minutes in group D vs 419.03±54.11 minutes in group N) (p-value=0.462). Postoperative pain scores and total amount of rescue analgesic requirement (105.17±42.98 vs 106.45±46.08) was also similar in both the groups (p=0.912). In Nalbuphine group, 16.7% reported pruritis (p-value=0.02) and 13.3% reported nausea (p-value=0.213). However, in group D only one patient reported nausea two hours postoperatively. Conclusion: Nalbuphine when compared to dexmedetomidine, as an additive to ropivacaine for TAP block, provides similar postoperative analgesic duration and efficacy, but increases the incidence of pruritus and nausea.