Analgesic Effect of Intrathecal Nalbuphine versus Intrathecal Fentanyl as Adjuvant to 0.5% Bupivacaine for Cesarian Section under Spinal Anaesthesia

Abstract Background One of the main objectives of anesthesia is to alleviate the patient’s pain and agony, by ensuring the performance of surgical procedures without any discomfort. Elimination of postoperative pain is indispensable due to the central, peripheral and immunological stress response to tissue injury. So there is a need for extended analgesia without any side effects to achieve this goal. The use of opioids in intrathecal or epidural anesthesia has become common to increase postoperative analgesia. However, opioid-induced side effects, such as respiratory depression, nausea, vomiting, urinary retention and pruritus, limit their use. Objective To assess the postoperative analgesic requirements and the spinally mediated analgesic effects of intrathecal nalbuphine as an adjuvant to intrathecal bupivacaine after cesarean section in comparison to intrathecal bupivacaine with fentanyl. Methods This randomized comparative clinical trial was conducted in Ain Shams University Hospitals’ operating rooms on 48 patients undergoing cesarean section within a period of six months after approval of ethical committee of Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University. Results This study showed that the addition of a small dose of nalbuphine or fentanyl to bupivacaine in spinal anesthesia prolonged the time of postoperative analgesia. In this study, there was no significant difference regarding the demographic data, duration of operation, maximum sensory level, and maximum motor blockade level. Adding to this, there was also no significant changes regarding the vital data of the patients. On the other hand, there was a significant difference regarding the duration of analgesia which was longer with nalbuphine. It was also noticed that with nalbuphine less patients required rescue analgesia in comparison to fentanyl. There was higher number of side effects recorded with fentanyl in comparison to nalbuphine. Conclusion Either intrathecal nalbuphine (0.8 mg) or intrathecal fentanyl (25 μg) combined with Bupivacaine improves intraoperative analgesia and prolongs post- operative analgesia in cesarean section. There was statistically significant difference between them, intrathecal nalbuphine had a prolonged duration of post-operative analgesia, lesser amount of rescue analgesia needed and fewer side effects than intrathecal fentanyl.