Effect of aminophylline, ketamine and paracetamol on pain intensity after deep vitrectomy surgery

Int J Physiol Pathophysiol Pharmacol. 2022 Oct 15;14(5):289-295. eCollection 2022.

Abstract

Background: Pain management after surgery is a challenging medical issue, and clinical research in this area has continued. This study aimed to compare the effect of Aminophylline, ketamine, and paracetamol on the pain intensity after deep vitrectomy and compare it with the control group.

Methods: In this clinical trial, 240 patients undergoing deep vitrectomy were included in the study. The protocol of the current study was approved in the Ethics committee of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences (IR.MUI.REC.1396.3.876) and this study was registered in Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (IRCT20210919052523N1) (https://www.irct.ir/trial/58884). The patients were randomly divided into four equal groups. Twenty minutes before surgery, in the first group, 0.15 mg/kg ketamine, in the second group 1 g acetaminophen, in the third group 3 mg/kg of aminophylline, and in the fourth group, normal saline was infused in the same manner. All drugs were diluted with 100 ccs of normal saline and infused intravenously within 15 minutes. The four groups of hemodynamic variables, pain intensity, and rescue analgesic drugs were compared.

Results: There was no significant difference between the groups based on hemodynamic variables (P>0.05). The severity of pain up to 2 hours after surgery and the rescue to analgesia in the ketamine and paracetamol groups were significantly lower than that of aminophylline and placebo.

Conclusion: Using ketamine or paracetamol effectively decreases pain intensity after deep vitrectomy surgery without producing significant adverse hemodynamic changes.

Keywords: Deep vitrectomy; aminophylline; ketamine; paracetamol; postoperative pain.