Intravenous tramadol vs ketorolac in laparoscopic dye test

To compare the quality of analgesia and side effects of I/V tramadol with a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug ketorolac in patients undergoing laparoscopic dye test.

A single dose, double blind, randomized clinical trial.

The Day Care Surgical Unit at the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi. The duration was initially planned for 6 months but was completed from January 2001 to February 2002.

Sixty patients coming for laparoscopic dye test were randomized by convenient sampling. Patients were divided into two groups, A and B, who received intravenous tramadol or ketorolac respectively before induction of general anaesthesia. Patients were assessed in the postanaesthesia care unit for pain using the visual analogue scale (VAS), frequency of postoperative nausea and vomiting was observed by the investigator who remained blinded to the treatment given. Any patient found to have pain score >5 was given bolus of 10 mg pethidine in titrated doses. Study was continued for 6 hours postoperatively. Pain scores were analyzed by applying Chi-square test.

Students impaired t-test was used to analyze demographic data, recovery time and hospital discharge, Mann Whitney was applied to analyze VAS scores. Categorical data i.e. nausea and vomiting was analyzed by using the Chi-square test (p-value >0.05).

Study showed that tramadol is a better analgesic compared to ketorolac for patients undergoing day care gynaecological laparoscopic procedure.