Laminectomy is associated with considerable postoperative pain. Providing analgesia locally in the area of surgical trauma, with minimal systemic side effects has become an integral part of multimodal analgesia. The objective of this study is to compare the effects of bupivacaine and ropivacaine instillation for postoperative analgesia in patients undergoing lumbar spine surgery. Methods: The study was conducted in a double blind manner. 40 ASA I & II patients scheduled for lumbar laminectomy

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... re randomly divided into two groups to receive either 20 ml (0.25%) of bupivacaine (group B) or ropivacaine (0.25%) instillation into the wound after securing hemostasis. After a dwell time of 60 sec the wound was closed in layers without mopping or suctioning. After extubation, the pain scores were evaluated by Numerical rating scale at 0 hours i.e., immediately after extubation and then at every 1 hour up to first 8 hours and then at every 6 hours till 24 hours and also the time for first demand of analgesia, number of analgesic demands and the total amount of analgesia consumed were noted by an independent observer. Results : The area under curve for mean pain score over 24 hrs time period on the basis of NRS scale was 46.8±5.84 in ropivacaine group (R) and 44.78±5.36 in bupivacaine group (B) with p= 0.26. The duration of analgesia and number of demands and the amount of analgesia consumed was also found statistically not significant. Conclusion: Surgical wound instillation with bupivacaine and ropivacaine provided better analgesic effect and safe postoperative analgesia in patients undergoing laminectomy surgeries.