• Rakhee Goyal, Gaurav Mittal, Arun Kumar Yadav, Rishab Sethi, and Animesh Chattopadhyay.
• Department of Anaesthesia and Critical Care, Army Hospital (Research and Referral), New Delhi, India.
• Indian J Anaesth. 2017 Nov 1; 61 (11): 903-909.

Background And AimsKnee replacement surgery causes tremendous post-operative pain and adductor canal block (ACB) is used for post-operative analgesia. This is a randomised, controlled, three-arm parallel group study using different doses of dexmedetomidine added to ropiavcaine for ACB.MethodsA total of 150 patients aged 18-75 years, scheduled for simultaneous bilateral total knee replacement, received ultrasound-guided ACB. They were randomised into three groups -Group A received ACB with plain ropivacaine; Groups B and C received ACB with ropivacaine and addition of dexmedetomidine 0.25 μg/kg and 0.50 μg/kg, respectively, on each side of ACB. The primary outcome was the duration of analgesia. Total opioid consumption, success of early ambulation, and level of patient satisfaction were also assessed.ResultsThe patient characteristics and block success rates were comparable in all groups. Group C patients had longer duration of analgesia (Group C 18.4 h ± 7.4; Group B 14.6 ± 7.1; Group A 10.8 ± 7; P < 0.001); lesser tramadol consumption (Group C 43.8 mg ± 53.2; Group B 76.4 ± 49.6; Group A 93.9 mg ± 58.3; P < 0.001) and lesser pain on movement (P < 0.001). The patients in Group B and C walked more steps than in Group A (P < 0.002). The level of patient satisfaction was highest in Group C (P < 0.001).ConclusionsThe addition of dexmedetomidine to ropivacaine resulted in longer duration of analgesia after adductor canal block for simultaneous bilateral total knee replacement surgery.

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