Analgesic effect of low dose subcutaneous ketamine administration before and after cesarean section

Pain is considered as an importantissue after cesarean section. Multimodal approach to post cesarean pain management may not only enhance analgesia but also reduce side effects after the surgery.

This study was aimed to evaluate the clinical efficacy of subcutaneous injection of low dose ketamine at the incision site to reduce cesarean section pain.

Sixty patients, aged between 18 and 25 years old, scheduled for elective cesarean section, were enrolled to this double-blind randomized controlled trial study. Patients were divided into three groups of 20 patients each group one (k-pre) received 0.5 mg/kg ketamine before skin incision and normal saline after skin closure, group two (k-post) received normal saline before skin incision and 0.5 mg/kg ketamine after skin closure and group three (C) received normal saline before skin incision and after skin closure; subcutaneously at the incision site. The first analgesic request, the amount of analgesic and the pain intensity were evaluated for 24 hours.

The first time analgesic requested was longer and the amount of analgesic used during the first 24 hours was significantly lower in groups K-pre and K-post compared with group C (P < 0.05). Pain intensity was significantly lower at 2, 4, 6 and 12 hours in groups K-pre and K-post compared with group C (P < 0.05). Nevertheless, pain intensity was not significantly different at 18 and 24 hours in group C (P > 0.05). The first requested time, total used amount of analgesicand pain intensity were not meaningfully different in K-pre and K-post groups (P > 0.05).

Patients who were given ketamine before or after cesarean section subcutaneously at incision site had lower pain intensity and less analgesic consumption than patients who were given placebo.