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. 2012 Jul;56(4):359-64.
doi: 10.4103/0019-5049.100817.

The effect on post-operative pain of intravenous clonidine given before induction of anaesthesia

Aloka Samantaray  1 , Mangu Hanumantha Rao, Abha Chandra
Affiliations

The effect on post-operative pain of intravenous clonidine given before induction of anaesthesia

Aloka Samantaray et al. Indian J Anaesth. 2012 Jul.

Abstract

Background: Treatment of acute post-thoracotomy pain is particularly important not only to keep the patient comfortable but also to minimize pulmonary complications.

Aim: This study was designed to test the effect of pre-induction administration of clonidine, given as a single intravenous dose, on post-operative pain scores and fentanyl consumption in patients after thoracic surgery.

Setting and design: Tertiary referral centre. Prospective, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Methods: Sixty patients were randomly allocated to receive clonidine (3 mcg/kg) or saline pre-operatively before induction of anaesthesia. The primary endpoint was pain on coughing (visual analogue scale (VAS) 0-100 mm) 120 min after surgery, time to first analgesic injection in the post-anaesthesia care unit (PACU) and 24-h fentanyl consumption.

Statistical analysis: For between-group comparisons, t-test and U-test were used as appropriate after checking normality of distribution. The incidence of complications between the groups was compared by Fisher's exact test.

Results: The post-operative VAS for the first 120 min and the fentanyl consumption at 24 h was significantly greater in the placebo group compared with the clonidine group (P<0.05). The sedation score was increased in the clonidine group during study drug infusion, but did not differ significantly on admission to the PACU.

Conclusions: A single intravenous dose of clonidine (3 mcg/kg) given before induction of anaesthesia significantly reduced the post-operative VAS score in the initial period and fentanyl consumption during 24 h after thoracic surgery.

Keywords: Analgesics; clonidine; non-narcotic; pain; post-operative; surgery; thoracic.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: None declared

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Patient flow (according to CONSORT guidelines)
Figure 2
Figure 2
Changes in haemodynamic variables and sedation score after infusion of study drugs during the pre-operative period. Data are expressed as mean (SD). *P<0.05, between groups by t-test
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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