To analyze the effect of dexamethasone combined with ropivacaine on postoperative analgesia and the expression of serum characteristics in patients undergoing inguinal hernia repair.

From January 2019 to August 2021, 196 patients with inguinal hernia repair in the Hanchuan People's Hospital of Hubei Province were selected by systematic sampling. According to different analgesia modes, they were divided into a control group (conventional analgesia mode) and an observation group (dexamethasone combined with ropivacaine analgesia mode), with 98 cases in each group. The VAS scores at 2, 6, 24 and 48 h after operation were compared between the two groups. The serum indexes [Substance P (SP), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP), tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), and interleukin-6 (IL-6)] at 48 h after surgery were compared between the two groups. At the same time, the correlation between VAS score and serum index content in the observation group at 48h after surgery was analyzed.

The VAS scores of the observation group at 2, 6, 24 and 48 h after operation were lower than those of the control group, and the differences between the two groups were statistically significant (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in the contents of five serum indexes between the two groups before operation (P>0.05). At 48 hours after operation, the contents of SP, ESR, CRP, TNF-α and IL-6 in the observation group were lower than those in the control group, and the differences between the groups were statistically significant (P<0.05). There were significant correlations between SP, ESR, CRP, TNF-α, IL-6 and postoperative VAS score at 48 h after operation (P<0.05).

The analgesic mode of dexamethasone combined with ropivacaine in patients with inguinal hernia repair has a lasting effect and significant advantage compared with the conventional analgesic method. At the same time, the stress effect caused by anesthesia operation is small.