RESUMEN
To compare the quality of postoperative analgesia between intraoperative administration of Morphine-Dexmedetomidine versus Morphine alone A total of 82 adults of both gender, aged between 42 and 71 years. All according to [American Society of Anesthesiologists] class I-II were assigned for various elective abdominal operations under general balanced anesthesia at King Hussein Medical Center during the period from January to October 2010. Patients were divided into two groups. Group D [n=41] received intravenous Morphine sulphate 0.1 mg/kg and Dexmedetomidine [primary loading dose of 1 mcg/kg over 10 min. followed by 0.4 mcg/kg/h] and group M [n=41] received intravenous Morphine sulphate 0.1 mg/kg, both given half an hour before the completion of surgery. Postoperative analgesia quality was evaluated using Visual Analog Scale and Morphine consumption in the recovery room for the first 1 hour then in the surgical ward for the next 24 hours. Median pain severity score was 3 in group D and 6 in group M during the first postoperative 60 minutes and 2 minutes in group D, 3 minutes in group M after 24 hours. About 83% of patients in group M needed additional Morphine compared to 26.8% of patients in group D [P<0.05] in the recovery room to attain equivalent analgesia. Intraoperative administration of intravenous Morphine-Dexmedetomidine mixture produces higher postoperative analgesia than Morphine alone