MAGNESIUM SULFATE EFFECTS ON POSTOPERATIVE PAIN AFTER CHOLECYSTECTOMY: A RANDOMIZED DOUBLE BLINDED CLINICAL TRIAL

Abstract

Introduction. Postoperative pain is an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience. Control of this pain plays an important role in successful performance of surgical procedure. Magnesium sulfate has been proposed for postoperative analgesia. Methods. In a randomized, double blind clinical trial with two parallel groups, we assessed the analgesic effect of perioperative magnesium sulfate administration in 60 patients with ASA I or II undergoing cholecystectomy with general anesthesia. Patients received either magnesium sulfate 50 mg/kg preoperative and 8 mg/kg/h postoperative (as interventional group) or the same volume of isotonic sodium chloride solution (as placebo). Anesthesia was performed with thiopental of sodium, succinylcholine, atracurium and morphine, supplemented by nitrous oxide and halothane. Postoperative analgesia was achieved with morphine and evaluated using the pain visual analog scale for 24 h. Results. The mean pain score was lower, and morphine consumption was more less in the magnesium group (P<0.01). Discussion. Intravenous magnesium sulfate reduces postoperative pain and analgesic requirments in patients with cholecystectomy. Our results demonstrate that magnesium sulfate can be an adjuant to perioperative analgesic management.