Inclusion Criteria:  American society of anesthesiologists (ASA) grade I-II body mass index (BMI) < 30 kg/m2 assignment to a single or double level lumbar laminectomy or discectomy  Exclusion Criteria:  Patient's refusal of the procedure local infection at site of catheter insertion recurrent disc surgery, emergency surgery coagulopathies hemoglobin <8 g/dl history of stroke or psychiatric disease baseline neurological deficit active upper respiratory tract infections history of either laryngeal / tracheal surgery or pathology uncontrolled hypertension or diabetes mellitus (DM), cardiac, pulmonary, hepatic or renal dysfunction any contraindication for study technique or medications being on regular steroids, opioid analgesics or alpha 2 agonists.