EFFECTS OF INTRAOPERATIVE ADMINISTRATION OF DEXMEDETOMIDINE ON POSTOPERATIVE PAIN IN GASTROINTESTINAL SURGERY

The current study aims to investigate the effects of intraoperative administration of dexmedetomidine on postoperative pain in gastrointestinal surgery. A multicenter study was conducted in Pakistan and Ireland, analyzed patients undergoing gastrointestinal procedures, including Gastrectomy and Enterectomy, who received intravenous dexamethasone (DEX) during the procedure. The primary end measure was patient satisfaction with pain therapy, while secondary outcomes included severe pain incidence, severity, and adverse effects of pain medication. The study used SPSS version 26.0 for statistical analysis and evaluated DEX's effects on patient experience, pain levels, and analgesic intake. A study found that 56.4% of gastrointestinal surgery patients used intraoperative dexamethasone (DEX), mainly for larger comorbidities and invasive treatments. DEX was also used for perioperative sedation and analgesia. However, international data from the PAIN-OUT registry did not reveal such a high percentage of DEX usage. In comparison with the group that got the control drug, the group that administered dexmedetomidine had significantly lower intraoperative doses of ephedrine, correspondingly. Regarding the remaining attributes, no significant distinctions were seen between the two cohorts under comparison. The intraoperative administration of DEX was associated with a decrease in the percentage of time spent in severe pain, the lowest pain score, the use of postoperative opioids, anxiety, helplessness, nausea, drowsiness, pruritus, and patients' desire for further treatment, all of which were indicated by the multivariate regression model. In patients undergoing major gastrointestinal surgery, intraoperative DEX was linked to improved outcomes for the prognosis of acute postoperative pain in several ways, including heightened patient satisfaction and decreased duration of severe pain, postoperative anxiety and helplessness, and postoperative opioid consumption.