title: The effect of oral tizanidine on postoperative pain relief after elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cholecystectomy is considered as the most important and relatively common postoperative pain control often begins in recovery room by using systemic narcotics that may have some side effects. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of premedication with oral tizanidine on pain relief after elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this double-blinded clinical trial, 70 adults of American Society of Anesthesiologist physiologic state 1 and 2 scheduled for elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy under general anesthesia were studied and randomly divided in two study and control groups. Ninety minutes before the induction of anesthesia, patients received either 4 mg tizanidine (study group) orally in 50cc or the same volume of plain water as a placebo (control group). Then, the vital signs, pain intensity, duration of stay in recovery, and the analgesic consumption were measured and then compared in both groups during 24 h postoperatively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was no significant difference in patient characteristics, with respect to age, weight, gender, and duration of anesthesia and surgery between the groups (P > 0.05). The pain intensity, need for analgesic drugs (34.57 ± 8.88 mg vs. 101.86 ± 5.08 mg), and the duration of stay in recovery room (67.43 ± 1.59 min vs. 79.57 ± 5.48 min) were significantly lower in tizanidine group than that of the control group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Oral administration of 4 mg tizanidine before laparoscopic cholecystectomy reduces postoperative pain, opioid consumption, and consequence of the duration of stay in recovery room without any complication.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Reihanak
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Talakoub
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Saeed
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Abbasi
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Elham
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Maghami
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Sayyed Morteza Heidari Tabaei
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Zavareh
keywords: Analgesia; laparoscopic cholecystectomy; postoperative pain; tizanidine