Laparoscopic cholecystectomy as compared to open cholecystectomy is currently the most accepted surgical technique for cholelithiasis because of its advantages like lesser haemorrhage, lesser postoperative pain, better cosmetic results and shorter recovery time.The origin of pain after laparoscopic cholecystectomy is multifactorial - incisional pain (somatic pain), visceral pain (deep intra-abdominal pain), and shoulder pain (presumably referred visceral pain).Pain is the dominating complaint which is most intense on the day of surgery and is the primary reason for prolonged convalescence after laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Also, it has been hypothesized that intense acute pain after laparoscopic cholecystectomy may predict development of chronic pain (e.g., post-laparoscopic cholecystectomy syndrome). So, it is an essential task to provide adequate postoperative analgesia.

Of the multimodal methods to control post-operative pain, intraperitoneal instillation of local anaesthetic agents alone or in combination with opioids, alpha�’2 agonists such as clonidine and dexmedetomidine⁸ blocks the visceral afferent signals and modifies visceral nociception following laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Both clonidine and dexmedetomidine have been tried as adjuvants with local anaesthetics for intraperitoneal infiltration to provide extended period of post operative analgesia.  However, we have not encountered any human study comparing the effects of clonidine versus dexmedetomidine along with bupivacaine for extended post operative analgesia.

The purpose of the present study is to study and compare the efficacy of  antinociceptive effects of intraperitoneal instillation of dexmedetomidine or clonidine added to bupivacaine for providing extended post operative analgesia in patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy.