Journal of Anesthesiology and Pain

Aim and Background:

Abdominal surgeries are usually very painful post-operatively for the patients consequently pain control would lead to a more rapid recovery period in patient and it would lower the complication rate.Nowadays intravenous Acetaminophen is one of the most prevalent drugs used in operating rooms to control pain.Ketamine also is an anesthetic drug, being a reasonable analgesic agent.This double blinded RCT has been done to compare the analgesic effect of paracetamol in comparison with ketamine on postoperative pain control after hysterectomy.

Methods and Materials:

Our patients were randomly allocated into two groups, according to the inclusion-exclusion criteria. The first group(40 patients) recieved 1 gram IV paracetamol and the second group (40 patients) recieved 0.15 mg per kg ketamine instead. The changes in blood pressure, heart rate, pain based on visual analogue score, and also the sedation Ramsay score were all evaluated at 4,6,12, and 24 hours after the operation. Moreover, nausea-vomiting and the amount of consumed analgesics were recorded and compared between the two groups

Findings:

 According to our findings, the VAS scoreand the total analgesic use were both significantly less in the Acetaminophen group in comparison with the ketamine group. However there was no significant difference found in regards to sedation score, nausea-vomiting, and respiratory problems. (p> 0.05)

Conclusions:

 Prescribing paracetamol at the end of abdominal hysterectomy is significantly more effective for pain control than intravenous ketamine.