Background: laparoscopic cholecystectomy became a widespread procedure with less invasive technique for treatment of gallbladder diseases, So control of post-operative pain associated with it became a source for medical researches to find different drugs and modalities other than opioids usually used for these kinds of operations.
Objectives: This study aimed to compare ketamine and dexametomidine infusion as an adjuvant to general anesthesia methods for laparoscopic cholecystectomy patients for follow up post-operative pain and vital signs.
Patients and methods: This was a prospective clinical-trial conducted at Qena University Hospital in duration from April 2023 to April 2024, involved fifty adult patients divided into Group K (ketamine infusion) and Group D (dexametomidine infusion). General anesthesia was administered to both groups, intraoperative vital signs monitoring was performed, and postoperative pain was measured using the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS).
Results: There was significant decrease in group K when compared to group D regarding Follow up VAS score through the first day post-operative (p < 0.05).
Intra-Operative HR was significantly increased in group K when compared to group D through time from the start of the operation till end of operation (p < 0.05).
When comparing group K to group D, there was a substantial increase in Intra-Operative SBP 10 to 40 minutes after the procedure began (p < 0.05).  
Conclusion: ketamine provided better pain control although with more elevation in HR and BP than dexametomidine infusion.