Postoperative analgesic efficacy of intravenous dexketoprofen in lumbar disc surgery

We investigated the postoperative analgesic efficacy and effect on total tramadol consumption of intravenous dexketoprofen trometamol, a new nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, in patients that had undergone lumbar disc surgery.

Sixty patients were included in this placebo-controlled, randomized, double-blind study. General anesthesia was applied to both groups. Group D (n=30) received dexketoprofen (50 mg) intravenously 30 minutes before the end of surgery and at the postoperative 12th hour, whereas group C (n=30) received 2 mL of 0.9% NaCL intravenously at the same time points. All patients received a patient controlled analgesia device with a tramadol, 25 mg bolus, 15 minutes lockout protocol, and were followed with visual analog scale, verbal rating scale, modified Aldrete recovery scoring system, and Ramsay sedation scale in the postoperative period.

There was no significant difference between the groups for demographic data, duration of surgery, mean arterial pressure, and heart rate. The time to first postoperative analgesic requirement was significantly longer in group D (151.33±81.98 min) than group C (19±5.78 min) (P<0.001). Total tramadol consumption was significantly lower in group D (117.50±48.31 mg) than group C (311.67±59.35 mg) (P<0.05). Visual analog scale and verbal rating scale values in group D were significantly lower than group C at all follow-up periods (P<0.001). There was a significant difference between the groups for the modified Aldrete recovery scoring system (P<0.05) but not for Ramsay sedation scale. The instances of nausea and vomiting among the side effects were significantly lower in group D (P<0.05).

We found that dexketoprofen was an effective analgesic for postdiscectomy pain when used alone or in addition to opioids. It is easy to administer and decreases tramadol consumption and opioid-related side effects.