• Ranajit Panigrahi, Ritesh Roy, Amita Kumari Mahapatra, Anju Prasad, Ashok Priyadarshi, and Nishit Palo.
• Department of Orthopaedics, Hi-Tech Medical College, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India.
• Orthop Surg. 2015 Aug 1; 7 (3): 250-5.

ObjectiveKnee arthroscopy is a commonly performed orthopedic procedure. Post-operatively, adequate pain relief reduces the surgical stress response and patient's morbidity and facilitates rehabilitation. The analgesic effect of dexmedetomidine (2 μg/kg body weight) as an adjunct to ropivacaine in knee arthroscopic knee procedures was studied to determine whether this would achieve longer post-operative analgesia and whether the study dosage of dexmedetomidine was safe and free of adverse effects.Patients And MethodsIn a multicenter prospective double blind trial of sixty patients undergoing knee arthroscopic procedures, patients were randomly assigned to three groups: Group R, receiving intra-articular ropivacaine (20 mL); Group D1 (18 mL ropivacaine, dexmedetomidine 1 μg/kg body weight); and Group D2 (18 mL ropivacaine, dexmedetomidine 2 μg/kg).ResultsGroup D2 had significantly lower pain scores for the first 12 postoperative hours than Group D1 and Group R. Time to first analgesic requirement was longest in Group D2 (757.30 ± 207.68 min), followed by Group D1 (433.2 ± 54.3 min) and Group R (311.80 ± 61.56 min); these differences were significant (P < 0.05). Total analgesic requirement was significantly lower in Group D2 (82.50 ± 48.05 mg; P < 0.05). Intensity of pain was significantly less in Group D2 in the third (P < 0.01) and sixth hours (P < 0.05).ConclusionIntra-articular dexmedetomidine (2 μg/kg) has superior analgesic efficacy, delayed the first postoperative requirement for analgesia and decreasing the need for postoperative analgesics with no major adverse effects.© 2015 Chinese Orthopaedic Association and Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

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