Studying the Effect of Intravenous Acetaminophen and Dexamethasone on Postoperative Headache after Cataract Surgery under Sedation and Topical anesthesia

Up to now, there is no single opinion on how to control pain after surgery and clinical research in this area has been continuing. This study aimed to compare the effect of intravenous Acetaminophen, Dexamethasone and placebo on postoperative pain after cataract surgery under sedation and topical anesthesia.
In a clinical trial study, 120 patients undergoing cataract surgery under sedation and topical anesthesia were distributed into three equal groups. 10 minutes before the end of surgery, the first group received 0.01 mg/kg Dexamethasone, the second group received 15 mg/kg Acetaminophen and third group received the same volume on normal saline as placebo. Pain intensity and additional analgesic consumption were assessed during operation and recovery and compared between the three groups.
In the three groups of Acetaminophen, Dexamethasone and control groups, 6, 10 and 18 patients had postoperative headache (16.7%, 27% and 47.4% respectively) and there was a significant difference between the three groups(p=0.014). Also, pain intensity was significantly higher in control group compared with other two groups from 30 minutes after arrival to the recovery room until 24 h postoperatively (p0.05).
Intravenous Acetaminophen administration is more effective than Dexamethasone and placebo to reduce pain and analgesic requirements after cataract surgery.