<![CDATA[Background: Pain after laparoscopic surgeries is a common complaint which can prolong hospital stay and delay recovery. Different methods have been developed to manage pain after laparoscopic hysterectomy. One such technique is intraperitoneal instillation of local anaesthetics with adjuvants like hydrocortisone, dexmeditomedine, magnesium sulphate. Various studies have confirmed the efficacy of local anaesthetics with hydrocortisone for analgesia. Studies comparing sole use of steroids are few. We thus devised to conduct a study to compare how effective hydrocortisone or dexamethasone administered intraperitoneally is in causing relief from pain after laparoscopic hysterectomy.Methods: We conducted an observational study, 60 patients planned for laparoscopic hysterectomy were classified into two groups. Group A (n=30) who received 100 mg hydrocortisone in 50 ml normal saline intraperitoneally and Group B (n=30) who received 8 mg dexamethasone in 50 ml normal saline intraperitoneally. Abdominal and shoulder pain was assessed using visual analogue scale (VAS) at 1, 6, 12 and 24 hour after surgery.Results: Both Group A and B had similar efficacy in providing both abdominal pain and shoulder pain relief post operatively. Both groups had no rescue analgesic requirement after 12 hour. Both drugs were has low incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV).Conclusion: Intraperitoneal dexamethasone is as equally effective as hydrocortisone in providing postoperative analgesia and antiemesis after laparoscopic hysterectomy]]>
