Effects of intravenous infusion of lidocaine and dexmedetomidine on immediate complications after tonsillectomy surgery in children

Tonsils are lymphoid tissues of the body's defense system that surround the pharynx and prevent the entry of microbes through inhalation. Tonsillectomy is the final treatment for enlarged tonsils and is one of the most common procedures in the ear, throat and nose. To prevent and improve postoperative complications, various methods are used, including lidocaine and dexmedetomidine injections. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of intravenous infusions of lidocaine and dexmedetomidine on the rate and severity of immediate complications after tonsillectomy surgery.

This study was conducted as a prospective, triple-blind, randomized clinical trial on 96 patients who were candidates for tonsillectomy under general anesthesia at Al-Zahra Hospital, Isfahan, Iran. The patients had informed consents and met the conditions to enter the study. 30 minutes before induction of anesthesia, patients were randomly assigned to one of three groups receiving lidocaine, dexmedetomidine, or placebo. All patients were examined for intraoperative bleeding, laryngospasm in the first 2 hours after the operation, and laryngitis in the first 24 hours after the operation. SPSS version 26 software was used for statistical analysis.

The findings of this research indicated that at 45, 75 and, 90 minutes after recovery, the mean score of pain and at 15-90 minutes in terms of anxiety was significantly different from the rest in at least one of the three groups (P<0.05). Systolic blood pressure (SBP) and arterial oxygen blood pressure in minutes 30 to 90, as well as Diastolic blood pressure (DBP) in minutes 60, 75 and 90, showed a significant difference between the three studied groups (P<0.05). There was no significant difference between the incidences of laryngospasm in the groups. However, there was a significant difference between the incidences of bronchospasm in all three groups. In terms of factors such as cough and nausea, no significant differences were observed in the studied groups. However, the average amount of bleeding in surgery, the recovery time and, the first time to tolerate liquids and solids in at least one group were significantly different from the others.

Overall, both dexmedetomidine and lidocaine are effective in reducing heart rate, SBP, Per Os (PO), and bleeding, and also increase arterial oxygen pressure, while respiratory rate, laryngospasm, bronchospasm, cough, nausea and extubation time were not significantly different between the three study groups.