Comparative Study of Dexmedetomidine and Midazolam in Sedation for Patients Undergoing Lower Abdominal Surgeries Under Spinal Anesthesia

ABSTRACT A comparative study was conducted for evaluating the efficacy of two different class of drugs in patients undergoing lower abdominal surgery with spinal anesthesia. A total 50 patients belonging to ASA grade I & II were randomly divided into 2 groups with each group comprised of 25 patients. After obtaining clearance from the department’s ethical committee, the patients were explained about the study and a written informed consent was obtained from all the participants. For Group I patients Midazolam was administered in 100 ml saline whereas Group II subjects were supplied with intravenous Dexmedetomidine 5 μg per Kg in 100 ml normal saline infused over 20 minutes. Continuous data was represented as mean, median and standard deviation. Independent ‘t test’ or Mann Whitney U test was used as test of significance to identify the mean difference between two groups. Paired ‘t test’ or Wilcoxon Signed Rank test was used as test of significance to determine paired data such as before and after surgery. P value < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. The mean age of study subjects supplied with Midazolam and Dexmedetomidine group were found to be 41.32 ± 8.46 and 37.76 ± 12.16 respectively. Majority of the subjects in both the groups were females with the mean weight found in Midazolam and Dexmedetomidine group were 68.6 ± 12.12 and 64.16 ± 7.94 respectively. Dexmedetomidine was found to be superior in all aspects except for the fact that it produced biphasic response and bradycardia. Keywords: Comparative study; Spinal anaesthesia; Preoperative Anxiety; Midazolam; Dexmedetomidine; Sedation.