How Efficacious is Esmolol in Suppressing the Stress Response to Laryngoscopy and Intubation in ENT Surgeries

Introduction: Attenuation of stress response during laryngoscopy and intubation has been one of the major concerns of the anaesthetist. Various techniques have been used to suppress this response like deepening the level of anaesthesia and various drugs like β blockers,local anaestheticsetc. In this study Esmolol was used to suppress the stress response. Material and Method: 60 patients undergoing elective ENT surgery under general anaesthesia of ASA grade I and II were randomly divided into two groups of 30 each. Group I (n=30)-Control –no drug was given. Group II (n=30)-patients received pretreatment with Injection Esmolol 0.5mg/kg. Results: The results were tabulated and statistically analyzed with student t-test and Chi square test using ANOVA (analysis of variance). Conclusion: Esmolol attenuates the stress response to laryngoscopy and intubation in the form of increase in pulse rate and blood pressure and that esmolol given 3 minutes before induction provides stable cardiovascular conditions as compared to the control group and attenutates the pressor response but does not obliterate it completely.