COMPARISON OF THE EFFECT OF ORAL, INTRAVENOUS AND RECTAL INFUSION OF PARACETAMOL FOR POSTOPERATIVE ANALGESIA UNDERGOING CESAREAN SECTION UNDER SPINAL ANESTHESIA

Dr. Rumani Ruku and Dr. Akhil Gupta*

ABSTRACT

Background: Caesarian delivery is one of the most commonly performed surgical procedures in women. 80% of patients experience moderate to severe pain. Early hours after birth are very important in the maternal care to communicate with the newborn and initiation of breast feeding. Paracetamol or acetaminophen is widely used non-opoid analgesics being devoid of risks related to opoids. Therefore the study was planned to compare the effectiveness of oral, intravenous and rectal paracetamol for postoperative analgesia in caesarian section. Methods: A prospective, randomized controlled study was conducted on paturients undergoing lower segment cesarean section in GMC Jammu. 90 paturients consisting into three groups of 30 each, were given oral paracetamol, IV paracetamol infusion and rectal paracetamol suppository, respectively and immediately after spinal anesthesia. Results: Post-operatively, duration of analgesia was 298.8 ± 76.3 minutes for Oral group, 326.5 ± 85.4 minutes for IV group and significantly higher at 518.0 ± 85.5 minutes for Rectal group. Time to first rescue and total number of doses were also poised significantly in favour of Rectal group. Our study showed that the perioperative outcomes of rectal administration of paracetamol were far more better and satisfactory than the parenteral or oral routes. Conclusion: The rectal route of administration of paracetamol improved the quality of post-operative and perioperative analgesia, without giving any side effects.

Keywords: Caesarian Delivery, Postoperative Analgesia, Paracetamol, Rectal Suppository.