Comparison of onset and duration of sensory and motor blockade between equipotent doses of 0.75% plain ropivacaine and 0.5% plain levobupivacaine in lower abdominal surgeries under epidural anaesthesia - A one year hospital based randomized clinical study

Epidural blockade unlike spinal anaesthesia, gives the clinician an opportunity to provide adequate anaesthesia for extended duration of surgical needs and enable excellent pain management well into the postoperative period. It provides better haemodynamic stability due to minimal sympathetic blockade. The present study used ropivacaine and levobupivacaine, which have recently been introduced for clinical use to compare the onset and duration of motor and sensory blockade in patients undergoing lower abdominal surgeries under epidural anaesthesia. The mean onset of sensory block in group R and group L were 17.93 ± 2.98 and 18.62 ± 3.09 minutes respectively; p= 0.285. The mean onset time of motor block was slightly longer in group L compared to group R (24.09 ± 3.07 vs 25.47 ± 4.13 minutes; p = 0.076). Mean duration of sensory block was slightly longer in group R compared to group L (196.78 ± 20.31 vs 189.0 ± 19.53 minutes; p = 0.067).The duration of post op analgesia was observed to be longer in group R (263.0 ± 22.77) in comparison to group L (253.78 ± 24.43). The duration of motor block was found to be lesser in group R(111.42 ± 16.70 min) compared to that in group L(118.53 ± 18.14 min), the difference being statistically insignificant (p=0.05). It can thus be concluded that both 0.75% ropivacaine and 0.5% levobupivacaine when administered epidurally for elective lower abdominal surgeries, provide adequate and comparable sensory and motor blockade.