ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The multimodal analgesia strategies to minimise opioid-related side effects are highly desirable in bariatric surgical procedures. We evaluated the efficacy of ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane (USG-TAP) block and intravenous lidocaine for postoperative analgesia in obese patients undergoing laparoscopic bariatric surgery. METHODS: We studied 56 patients with body mass index >35 kg/m2. They were randomly allocated to Lidocaine group (Group A) and USG-TAP group (Group B). Group A patients were given intravenous Lidocaine (1.5 mg/kg) bolus followed by (1.5 mg/kg/h) infusion. Group B patients were given ultrasound-guided bilateral TAP block using 20 cc of 0.375% ropivacaine each side. Postoperative numeric rating pain scale score (NRS) hours were compared. Other parameters compared were total fentanyl requirement, sedation score, postoperative nausea vomiting (PONV) score and patient satisfaction score. A P value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: The patient in the Group A had lower resting NRS score (P < 0.05) postoperatively and less fentanyl consumption (P < 0.001) than in Group B. The difference in the sedation scores (P = 0.161) and PONV (P = 0.293) score was found to be statistically insignificant between Group A and B. The difference between the two groups was statistically significant with respect to patient satisfaction score with majority of patients having an excellent patient satisfaction score in Group A as compared to Group B. CONCLUSION: Intravenous Lidocaine as part of multimodal analgesic technique in obese patients undergoing laparoscopic bariatric surgery improves pain score and reduces opioid requirement as compared to USG-TAP Block.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Optimal depth of endotracheal tube (ET) placement has been a serious concern because of the complications associated with its malposition. AIMS: To find the optimal depth of placement of oral ET in Indian adult patients and its possible determinants viz. height, weight, arm span and vertebral column length. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: This study was conducted in 200 ASA I and II patients requiring general anaesthesia and orotracheal intubation. METHODS: After placing the ET with the designated black mark at vocal cords, various airway distances were measured from the right angle of mouth using a fibre optic bronchoscope. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: The power of the study is 0.9. Mean (SD) and median (range) of various parameters and Pearson correlation coefficient was calculated. RESULTS: The mean (SD) lip-carina distance, i.e., total airway length was 24.32 (1.81) cm and 21.62 (1.34) cm in males and females, respectively. With black mark of ET between vocal cords, the mean (SD) ET tip-carina distance of 3.69 (1.65) cm in males and 2.28 (1.55) cm females was found to be considerably less than the recommended safe distance. CONCLUSIONS: Fixing the tube at recommended 23 cm in males and 21 cm in females will lead to carinal stimulation or endobronchial placement in many Indian patients. The lip to carina distance best correlates with patient's height. Positioning the ET tip 4 cm above carina as recommended will result in placement of tube cuff inside cricoid ring with currently available tubes. Optimal depth of ET placement can be estimated by the formula "(Height in cm/7)-2.5."
