Epidural anesthesia with ropivacaine with or without clonidine and postoperative pain in hemorrhoidectomies

PURPOSE: To determine the safety, pain intensity correlated with age and body mass index (BMI), epidural anesthesia with ropivacaine and clonidine in hemorrhoidectomy.METHODS: Eighty patients, both genders, 20-70 years old, ASA I or II, for hemorrhoidectomy were randomly divided into two groups: Control (n=38), epidural anesthesia with 14 mL of ropivacaine 0.75 % plus 0.0266 mL/kg of 0.9% saline solution; Experimental (n=42) epidural anesthesia with 14 mL of 0.75% ropivacaine plus 4.0 mcg/kg of clonidine. In preoperative and postoperative period were evaluated: systolic blood pressure (SBP), d...