Per-operative efficacy of single intravenous bolus dose of Dexamethasone in reducing post tonsillectomy pain in adults

Objective: to determine the efficacy of per-operative single intravenous bolus dose of dexamethasone in reducing post-tonsillectomy pain. material and methods: this was a quasi experimental study conducted at the ent department,hayatabad medical complex,(hmc),peshawar from march 2010 to march 2011. a total of 108 patients included in this study were divided in to two groups,group a receiving intrevenous dexamethasone (8mg) and group b not receiving dexamethasone. post tonsillectomy pain was measured by using visual analogue scale and graded as no pain,mild pain,moderate pain and severe pain. results: a total of 108 patients were included with age ranging from 16 to 38 years with a mean age of 23.52 ± 6.01 years. on the first postoperative day,3 patients in group a were pain free while none was pain free in group b with significant difference (p=0.016) between the two groups. similarly 20.4% vs none on second postoperative day and 57.4% vs 24.1% on 3rd post operative day showed significant difference (p=0.0001) between the two groups. conclusion: per-operative intravenous dexamethasone during tonsillectomy is useful in combating postoperative pain.