Abstract

Introduction: Peripheral nerve blocks are the preferred choice of anaesthesia for surgeries involving the extremities of the human body, with fewer complications. Earlier, the most common drug to be used for the brachial plexus block was bupivacaine, but of late, levobupivacaine and Ropivacaine are used as substitutes to counter the toxicity by Bupivacaine.
Materials and methods: 100 patients aged between 18-60 years with ASA I and ASA II undergoing bony surgeries were randomly divided into Group L and Group R. Group L was given 30 ml of 0.5% Levobupivacaine and Group R was given 30 ml of 0.5% Ropivacaine. Results: The onset of the sensory blockade was significantly lesser in Group L (4.51 ± 0.45 minutes) rather than Group R (5.95 ± 1.33 minutes) while there was no significant difference in the onset of the motor blockade (8.13 ± 2.46 minutes in Group L and 8.42 ± 2.51 minutes in Group R). The duration of the sensory blockage was significantly more in Group L (11.13 ± 2.11 hours) than Group R (9.04 ± 1.42 hours) while there was no difference in the duration of the motor blockade. The duration of analgesia was 11.43 ± 2.17 in Group L and 8.23 ± 1.72 hours in Group R, which was statistically significant.
Conclusion: Since the onset is shorter and duration of anesthesia and analgesic is more effective in Levobupivacaine, it can be used as a preferred drug.