ArticleCureus2024
A Comparative Study of Nalbuphine, Clonidine, and Dexmedetomidine as Adjuvants to Ropivacaine in Epidural Anesthesia for Lower Limb Surgery.
Article in Cureus, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Safety and Efficacy of Dexmedetomidine as an Adjuvant in Epidural Anesthesia for Labor Analgesia: A Narrative Review.Medical sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Enhancing Caudal Analgesia in Children: A Narrative Review of Clonidine and Dexmedetomidine as Adjuvants.Cureus · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundIn epidural anaesthesia, the addition of an adjuvant to local anaesthetics enhances the efficacy, thereby providing increased duration and intensity of blockade in lower limb surgeries. The aim was to compare the efficacy, onset, and duration of sensory and motor blockade; haemodynamic changes; and sedative and analgesic effects of nalbuphine, clonidine, and dexmedetomidine as an adjuvant to ropivacaine in epidural anaesthesia. METHODOLOGY: A prospective, randomised, double-blind study among 90 patients after taking consent was divided into three groups (30 patients each; Group D received 15 ml of 0.75% ropivacaine + injection (inj.) dexmedetomidine 1.5 μg/kg + normal saline to make it a total volume of 18 ml; Group N received 15 ml of 0.75% ropivacaine + inj. nalbuphine 0.2 mg/kg + normal saline to make it a total volume of 18 ml; Group C received 15 ml of 0.75% ropivacaine + inj. clonidine 1.5 μg/kg + normal saline to make it a volume of 18 ml, given epidurally). Data were analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics software version 23.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY), and appropriate statistical tests were applied.
resultsThe onset of sensory and motor block in Group D was 8.0±1.1 minutes and 10.5±1.7 minutes, respectively; in Group C, 10.3±1.4 minutes and 14.7±1.1 minutes, respectively; and in Group N, 11.3±1.5 minutes and 14.8±1.4 minutes, respectively, found to be very highly statistically significant (p<0.001). The total duration of sensory, motor block and analgesia was longest in Group D (495.5±16.1 minutes, 405.7±16 minutes, and 525.5±16.1 minutes, respectively), followed by Group N (356.8±17.7 minutes, 257±13.4 minutes, and 386.8±17.6 minutes, respectively), and shortest in Group C (309.9±13.4 minutes, 255.7±11 minutes, and 340.0±13.4 minutes, respectively), found to be very highly statistically significant. (p < 0.001). Out of 30 patients, 12 patients in Group D, six in Group C, and eight patients in Group N had sedation (Ramsay's Sedation Score (RSS) > 3). The clonidine group showed significant bradycardia, hypotension, nausea, and vomiting as compared to the others.
conclusionWe concluded that the use of dexmedetomidine as an adjuvant to the local anaesthetic agent during epidural block hastens the onset of sensory and motor blockade, provides a longer duration of sensory and motor block, provides longer duration of analgesia, and decreases the total analgesic requirement without causing clinically significant and unmanageable side effects as compared to nalbuphine followed by clonidine.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.