TRAMADOL - A LOCAL ANAESTHETIC WITH A DIFFERENCE

Abstract

Objectives: The synthetic opioid, tramadol is useful in a wide range of acute and chronic pain states. Of late, in addition to its systemic action, the local anaesthetic effect of tramadol on peripheral nerves has been shown in both: clinical and laboratory studies. We conducted a study to evaluate the effect of tramadol as a local anaesthetic and postoperative analgesic when compared with lignocaine for minor surgeries.Methods: 40 ASA I-II adult patients aged 18-60 years, who were to undergo elective day care minor surgeries under local anaesthesia were randomly assigned to receive either 2mg/kg of tramadol with 1:2,00,000 adrenaline (Group T) or 1mg/kg of lignocaine with 1:2,00,000 adrenaline (Group L). Visual analogue score (VAS), pulse rate, respiratory rate & blood pressure were recorded at various times intraoperatively. Side effects were assessed. The total dose of rescue analgesic (oral paracetamol) consumed by the patient over the immediate 24 hours postoperatively was noted. Results and conclusion: After statistical analysis of the data, it was concluded that tramadol is a good local anaesthetic cum postoperative analgesic for minor surgical procedures and can be used as an adjunct or option to other commonly used local anaesthetics.

Key words: tramadol; lignocaine; local anaesthetic; postoperative analgesia.