Ropivacaine with dexmedetomidine in a thoracic paravertebral nerve block for prolongation of operative analgesia in thoracic orthopaedic patients.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the combining ropivacaine paravertebral nerve block with dexmedetomidine in prolongation of operative analgesia time in thoracic orthopaedic patients.

METHODS

30 patients with thoracic orthopedic surgery (including chicken breast, funnel chest and forked rib) who were treated in the thoracic department of our hospital from May 2021 to November 2022 were recruited as the study objects. The patients ranged in age from 8 to 18 years old, with an average age of 10.94 ± 3.66 years old. All patients underwent corrective surgery. 15 patients were divided into control group (receiving conventional analgesia) and the experimental group (combining ropivacaine paravertebral nerve block with dexmedetomidine analgesia) according to intraoperative analgesia, respectively. All patients were informed of the protocol when they signed up for the study.

RESULTS

There was no difference in the general data between the two groups (P > 0.05). The duration of sensory block and analgesia in the experimental group was longer than that in the control group (P < 0.05). The analgesia time of the experimental group was longer than that of the control group (P < 0.05), the pain score was lower than that of the control group (P < 0.05), and the postoperative recovery score was relatively high (P < 0.05). The incidence of adverse reactions in the experimental group was lower than that in the control group (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

Combining Ropivacaine paravertebral nerve block with dexmedetomidine is superior to conventional analgesia in thoracic orthopaedic surgery.