Postoperative Pain Management After Sternotomy In Off-Pump Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) Surgery - A Comparative Study Between NSAID (Diclofenac Sodium) and Opioid (Pethidine)

Abstract

Background: Traditionally, postoperative pain has been managed either reactively with drugs given as needed or proactively with continuous infusion of analgesics. Objectives:The present prospective comparative study was carried out to find difference in efficacy between opioid and NSAID (Non-stroid anti-inflammatory drugs) in the post-sternotomy pain management following off pump coronary bypass graft surgery. Methods: A total of 30 patients were randomly divided into two groups. – 15 patients were treated with NSAID (Diclofenac sodium) and 15 patients with opioid (pethidine) which are not commonly used in cardiac surgery. Patients ranging from 40 – 60 years with ASA Grade I & II who underwent off-pump CABG with median sternotomy were included in the study. Statistics: The test statistics used to analyze the data were Chi-square Test and repeated measure ANOVA. Result & conclusion: The study concluded that the intensity of post-sternotomy pain was inappreciably higher in the NSAID group than that in the opioid group throughout the whole period of observation suggesting that opioid (pethidine) would be a promising analgesic in the post-sternotomy pain management than NSAID (diclofenac sodium) (p = 0.045). Key words: Post-sternotomy pain; OPCAB; choice of analgesic.  DOI: 10.3329/bsmmuj.v3i2.7059 BSMMU J 2010; 3(2): 91-9