A Comparative Study to Assess the Effect of Oral Gabapentin Vs Oral Clonidine in Attenuating Haemodynamic Response of the Patients Undergoing Laryngoscopy and Tracheal Intubation

There are few studies that described that clonidine and gabapentin can be used for attenuating hemodynamic response to laryngoscopy and tracheal intubation. The present study was aimed to compare the safety and efficacy of a single preoperative oral dose of clonidine with a single preoperative oral dose of gabapentin in attenuating hemodynamic response to laryngoscopy and tracheal intubation. This randomised single-blinded controlled study was conducted in sixty patients. Group A and Group B patients received oral clonidine 0.2 mg and oral gabapentin 800 mg respectively 60 minutes prior to surgery. Haemodynamics were recorded at the baseline, pre-intubation, post-intubation one minute (T1), post-intubation three minutes (T3) and post-intubation five minutes (T5). Primary outcome measures were to compare haemodynamic parameters, whereas secondary outcome measures were to compare side effects and preoperative sedation caused by both the drugs. A comparison of quantitative and qualitative variables was done using unpaired student’s t-test and the Chi-square test/Fisher’s exact test respectively. The mean heart rate (HR) at pre-intubation, T1, T3 and T5 were significantly higher in Group B as compared to Group A. The mean systolic blood pressure, mean diastolic blood pressure and mean arterial pressure at pre-intubation, T1, T3 and T5 and incidence of side effects did not significantly differ between the two study groups. In Group A, a significantly higher percentage of patients were alert as compared to Group B. Oral clonidine provided good attenuation of HR to laryngoscopy and intubation as compared with oral gabapentin. Gabapentin produced more postoperative sedation than clonidine.