intravenous dexamethasone reduces pain in middle ear surgery

Introduction:few studies evaluated the treatment of postoperative pain in middle ear surgery.materials and methods:we conducted a randomized clinical trial to evaluate the efficacy of dexamethasone in the management of postoperative pain in middle ear surgery. group g1 received an intravenous injection of 2 ml of physiological saline 30 minutes before the end of the procedure. group g2 received a 2 ml intravenous solution containing 8 mg of dexamethasone, 30 minutes before the end of the procedure. pain perception was measured by the visual an alogscale (vas) every 10min during the first hour and the nevery 6 hours during the 24 hours postoperatively. the delay of the first analgesic demand and the consumption of analgesics use during the first 24 hours postoperatively, were recorded.results:vas values were lower in g2at all measurement points during the first hour, as well as the first 24h postoperatively (mann-whitney test, p<0.05).the delay of the analgesic request was (0 (0-60) for g1 versus 0 (0-80) for g2, p=0.04, mann-whitney test). morphine was used in 44% of the patients in g1 against 19% for g2 (p = 0.031). there was a significant difference between g1 and g2 in terms of the total dose of morphine consumed (p= 0.028, mann-whitney test). paracetamol demand was lower in group 2 at all points of assessment during the first 24 hours postoperatively.conclusions:intravenous dexamethasone is effective in decreasing pain and analgesic requirement, during the first 24 hours postoperatively, in patients undergoing middle ear surgery.