Effect of Preoperative Magnesium Infusion on Postoperative Pain in Patients Under General Anaesthesia

Abstract

Despite the availability of newer clinical practice objectives, effective analgesics and new technologies for pain measurement, the management of postoperative pain continues to remain a problem. Patients have the right to be recognized as experts of their own pain experience and to have their pain report reflected accurately in the type of pain relief they receive. They also have the right to expect that relief of their pain be considered to be a reasonable goal of the treatment. With the increasing understanding of pain physiology and the (N-Methyl D Aspartate) NMDA receptor, the use of Magnesium for secondary analgesia and as an adjuvant to different regimens is introducing newer possibilities for the use of Magnesium in acute and chronic pain. The popularity of Magnesium sulphate in wide spectrum of clinical application also finds its use in attenuating postoperative pain. In our study, we will be assessing the patients while they are undergoing surgery and their postoperative pain scores when the patient is premedicated with Magnesium sulphate. MATERIALS AND METHODS60 patients undergoing general surgery were randomly divided into 2 groups of 30 each. The Magnesium sulphate group received 50mg/kg in 100mL of normal saline solution over 30 minutes before the surgery intravenously, whereas control group received same volume of normal saline solution over 30 minutes preoperatively. RESULTSData collected was subjected to standard statistical analysis and analysed using Chi-square test. There was significant difference in the pain scores after the injection of Magnesium sulphate between both the groups. CONCLUSIONWe found out that majority of patients find relief, while a minority of patients had the issue of nausea and vomiting. We conclude that Magnesium sulphate provides a good pain relief without any significant adverse effects.