Intraperitoneal dexamethasone as a new method for relieving postoperative shoulder pain after gynecologic laparoscopy

In this study, we tried to show the efficacy of Intraperitoneal dexamethasone on relieving shoulder pain after gynecologic laparoscopy.

In this double-blind randomized clinical trial, 63 patients who were candidates for gynecologic laparoscopy were included. At the end of the procedure patients randomly received 16 mg dexamethasone (n=31) or placebo (n=32) intraperitoneally. Visual analogue scale (VAS) was used for clinical evaluation of pain severity during 24 hours after laparoscopy . A physician, who was not aware whether patients were treated with drug or placebo, evaluated the patients.

The severity of pain in the dexamethasone group within 0, 2, 4, 8, 12, 24 hours after procedure was significantly less than in the placebo group (p<0.001). The average consumption of opioids as analgesic/ sedative in the placebo group was more than the dexamethasone group (p=0.025).

Findings of this study show that the prescription of 16 mg of dexametha- sone (single dose) in the peritoneal cavity may significantly reduce the severity of pain after Laparoscopy in comparison with placebo and may decrease the need for narcotics as pain relief (Registration Number: IRCT201105306640N1).