Efficacy of port-site infiltration with ropivacaine alone versus ropivacaine with fentanyl for postoperative analgesia in patients undergoing laparoscopic procedures

Background and aims: Wound infiltration as a pre-emptive measure to relieve post-operative pain is a common practice following laparoscopic procedures. The addition of adjuvants like opioids to local anesthetics can facilitate the prolongation of postoperative analgesia. Our primary aim was to compare the analgesic efficacy of peri-portal infiltration of Ropivacaine alone versus Ropivacaine with Fentanyl in patients undergoing laparoscopic operations. Methods: The study was conducted on 80 ASA physical status I and II patients, aged 18 to 65 years, undergoing surgical procedures under general anesthesia. Group R was infiltrated with Ropivacaine (0.5%) (18ml+2ml saline) while in Group RF, Ropivacaine(18ml) with Fentanyl 2ml (100礸)] was infiltrated around ports, before wound closure. At the end of the surgery, one of our study drug solutions was infiltrated, to which the patient as well as the assessor were blinded. Postoperative pain was assessed by the VAS (visual analog scale) score. Injection Tramadol 100mg was given as a rescue analgesic if the VAS score was ? 3. Student抯 t-test and Fischer抯 exact test were applied for continuous and categorical variables; Kruskal Wallis and Mann Whitney U test for nonparametric data. The entire statistical analysis was done using STATA 13[ STATA CORP. TEXAS, USA] software. Results: The mean duration of analgesia was significantly longer in group RF, with a requirement of fewer doses of rescue analgesics, compared to group R. Conclusion: The addition of Fentanyl to Ropivacaine for periportal infiltration was found to be superior to Ropivacaine alone in providing effective postoperative analgesia as well as reducing the requirement of rescue analgesics.