Abstract

Background: Stress response to cancer surgeries results in impaired balance between pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines besides activating an inflammatory cascade. Therefore, we investigated the effect of intravenous infusion (IVI) of dexmedetomidine and lidocaine on proinflammatory cytokines and some stress reaction.
Methods: A randomized study was performed in National Cancer Institute. 54 patients scheduled for pelviabdominal cancer surgery under general anaesthesia were randomly allocated to either of the study groups, Lidocaine group: received 1.5 mg/kg loading dose followed by 1.5 mg/kg/hour IVI; Dexmedetomidine group: received a loading dose of 1µg/kg followed by IVI of 0.5µg/kg/hour; or Saline group: received 50 ml of normal saline followed by IVI intraoperatively at a rate of 10 ml/hour till the end of surgery. The primary outcome is reaching postoperative level of IL-6 after 24 hours.
Results: Immediate and 24 hours postoperative IL-6 and TNFα were significantly lower in both dexmedetomidine and lidocaine groups compared to control group (P

Key words: Lidocaine; dexmedetomidine; interleukins; tumour necrosis factor- α; stress response; pelviabdominal cancer surgeries.