STUDY TO EVALUATE THE EFFICACY OF TAP BLOCK USING 0.5% BUPIVACAINE VERSUS ORAL GABAPENTIN FOR POSTOPERATIVE ANALGESIA IN LAPAROSCOPIC SURGERIES.

Background: Early discharge and shorter hospital stay is popular in patients undergoing minimally invasive surgery (MIS). Intolerable post-MIS pain may lead to a significant unnecessary increase in analgesia use, slower recovery, longer hospital stays, and rarely, readmission. Aim: The study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of TAP block using 0.5% Bupivacaine versus oral Gabapentin for postoperative analgesia in laparoscopic surgeries. Materials and Methods: In a randomised controlled study, 70 patients of ASA class I and II scheduled for laparoscopic surgeries of age 20 to 60 years were enrolled. Patients were randomly allocated into two groups of 35 each. Group I was allocated to patients receiving TAP block and Group II to patients receiving oral Gabapentin. Results: Patients in both the groups were comparable with respect to age, gender, ASA Class and type of surgery and did not affect the study result at any time interval of the study. MAP and SPO2 did not show significant difference in both the groups at any time interval of study. Heart rate was significantly higher in group II than the group I which corresponds to the onset of pain that is at 6 hours in group II and 8 hours in Group I. NRS score of >4 was seen earlier (6 hours) in Group II patients as compared to group I patients (8hours). Eighteen out of 35 patients of Group II required rescue analgesia where as in Group I only 9 out of 35 patients required rescue analgesia. Conclusion: TAP block using 0.5% Bupivacaine is more efficacious than 300 mg oral gabapentin for post-operative analgesia in laparoscopic surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]