Background: Ropivacaine hydrochloride is increasingly being used for the epidural anesthesia for below umbilical surgeries. To increase its efficacy, opioids like fentanyl has been added to ropivacaine in different dose combinations. The present study was conducted at a tertiary care centre in north India. Total of 90 patients in age group 20-60 were enrolled and were equally divided to receive one of the three group medications (Group R (n=30): 18.5 ml of 0.75% Ropivacaine hydrochloride with 1.5 ml of normal saline, Group RF1 (n=30): 18.5 ml of 0.75% Ropivacaine hydrochloride with 50μg of Fentanyl Citrate (1 ml) and 0.5 ml of normal saline and Group RF2 (n=30): 18.5 ml 0.75% Ropivacaine hydrochloride with 75 μg of  Fentanyl Citrate (1.5 ml)).

Results: Addition of fentanyl to ropivacaine improved the onset of sensory block, decreased the time taken to reach highest level of sensory block, onset of motor block, and increased duration of analgesia which was statistically significant. The Visual Analog Score (VAS) at the time of rescue analgesia was not statistically significant among the three groups.

Conclusion: Fentanyl accelerates onset of sensory and motor block as an adjuvant to ropivacaine hydrochloride in epidural block. It prolongs the duration of sensory block and duration of analgesia in dose dependent manner.

Keywords: Ropivacaine, fenatnyl, epidural, anaesthesia.

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Dr Suman Gupta

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