The effect of addition of ketamine to lidocaine on postoperative pain in rhinoplasties

The objective of this study was to examine the effect of addition of subanesthetic doses of ketamine to an epinephrine-lidocaine solution on postoperative pain, analgesic use, and patient comfort during rhinoplasties. Ninety patients were randomly divided into three groups: Group L, lidocaine with epinephrine; Group K, lidocaine with epinephrine plus ketamine; and Group S (control group), physiological saline solution with epinephrine. The local anesthetic solution was injected as preincisionally with intranasal submucosal infiltration following induction of general anesthesia. We evaluated visual pain score, analgesic demand, Wilson sedation score, and antiemetic demand at 5, 15, and 30 min and 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 16, and 24 h after the operation. The patient satisfaction score was checked 24 h after the operation. Visual pain score was significantly reduced in Group K in comparison with the other groups and this group did not need any rescue analgesics (P < 0.05). The postoperative patient satisfaction scores were highest in Group K compared with the other groups (P < 0.05). Addition of ketamine solution to lidocaine for infiltration block during rhinoplasty was successful in decreasing pain during postoperative periods and reducing analgesic consumption during the first 24 h after the operation.