Effect of 30 mg Oral Dextromethorphan and Placebo on Postoperative Analgesia in Patients Undergoing Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is considered a global standard procedure for the surgical treatment of gallstones. The present study aimed to compare the effect of dextromethorphan and oral placebo on postoperative analgesia in patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

This double-blind clinical trial study was performed on 114 ASA I and II patients who were candidates for laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Two hours before the induction of anesthesia, the intervention group was administered 30 mg of plain dextromethorphan syrup, and the control group was given 2 cc of placebo of an oral syrup. Pain intensity, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, heart rate, and SPO2 at the time of recovery, 1, 6, and 12 hours after surgery, and the amount of pethidine were recorded. Data were analyzed in SPSS software (version 24) at a significance level of 0.05.

The mean pain intensity was statistically significant in the control and intervention groups. The mean pain intensity in the intervention group was lower than that in the control group (P<0.05). Diastole blood pressure, heart rate, and SPO2 in the two groups did not have a statistically significant difference (P>0.05), while systolic blood pressure statistically differed (P<0.05). The amount of pethidine consumption in the intervention group was higher than that in the control group.

As evidenced by the obtained results, low-dose dextromethorphan (30 mg) is effective in postoperative analgesia for patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecys-tectomy and reduces opioid use.