Local Infiltration of Bupivacaine versus Placebo for Post-Operative Pain Relief Following Elective Lichtenstein Hernioplasty: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Introduction: Postoperative pain relief is of paramount importance in any surgery. Objective: To compare the effect of local infiltration of bupivacaine versus placebo for post-operative pain relief following inguinal hernioplasty. Materials and Methods: Ours was a prospective randomized controlled trial conducted on 120 patients undergoing elective Lichtenstein hernioplasty. Patients were divided into two groups of 60 each. One group received local infiltration with 10 mL bupivacaine 0.25% below the external oblique aponeurosis and 15 mL bupivacaine 0.25% subcutaneously after completion of the surgical procedure. The other group received an equal amount of normal saline infiltrated in the similar manner. Visual Analogue Scale measured the pain. Results: The baseline parameters were similar in both the groups. Postoperative pain was significantly decreased in patients receiving bupivacaine (p < 0.05). Mean time to first request for rescue analgesic was increased from 245 + 19.42 minutes to 472 + 19.42 minutes (p < 0.05). The consumption of supplementary analgesics during the 24-hour study period reduced from a mean of 2.8 + 0.12 to 1.7 + 0.09 doses in bupivacaine group (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Local infiltration of bupivacaine is an effective modality for post-operative pain relief in inguinal hernioplasty.