Intraoperative clonidine vs lidocaine on hemodynamic response to laryngoscopic intubation and immune function in gynecological surgeries

Background
This prospective randomised double-blind study was carried out on forty patients American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) physical status I–II , aged 40–60 years, scheduled for elective abdominal gynecological surgeries under general anesthesia after obtaining the approval of the local institutional ethical committee and oral consent of the patients. This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of perioperative intravenous clonidine versus lidocaine on hemodynamic stress response to laryngoscopic intubation, immune function, pain intensity, time to the first request for analgesia, and total dose of analgesic requirement in the first 24 h postoperatively in gynecological surgeries.
Results
Throughout the study, heart rate and mean arterial blood pressure were significantly lower in clonidine group (group C) compared to lidocaine group (group L). Postoperatively, the levels of IL-6 were significantly higher in (group L) compared to (group C). VAS pain scores were lower in the clonidine group in comparison to the lidocaine group. There was a higher total dose of analgesia in the lidocaine group when compared to the clonidine group.
Conclusions
Both clonidine and lidocaine can be used to attenuate the hemodynamic response; however, clonidine was better in the reduction of postoperative pain scores and the decrease in the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines.