European Journal of Molecular & Clinical Medicine

Abstract

Background: Enhancing the duration of sensory and motor blockade of regional anaesthesia is often desirable for prolonged surgeries and also provides pain relief in the immediate postoperative period. We performed a prospective, randomised, study to evaluate the effect of Dexmedetomidine and Dexamethasone as adjuvants to Ropivacaine in supraclavicular approach of brachial plexus block.
Study design: The study was a controlled, randomised, double-blinded, prospective study.
Methods: Sixty ASA physical status 1 and 2 patients undergoing elective hand, forearm and elbow surgeries under brachial plexus block were randomly divided to receive either 8 mg Dexamethasone + 30ml 0.5% Ropivacaine or 1 mcg/kg Dexmedetomidine + 30 ml 0.5% Ropivacaine. The block was performed using a nerve stimulator. Onset and duration of sensory and motor blockade and total duration of analgesia were measured. Vitals were recorded at 3, 5,10,15,30 and 45 minutes. Two sample ‘t’ test of difference between two means was used to analyse the differences between various parameters that were used in the cases. Categorical data was assessed by Chi square test and Fishers exact test. P value of < 0.05 was considered significant.
Results: The onset of sensory block and onset of motor block both were found to be sooner with Dexmedetomidine than Dexamethasone. The duration of sensory block and motor blockade and duration of analgesia was longer with Dexmedetomidine than Dexamethasone.
Conclusion: Both Dexmedetomidine and Dexamethasone enhanced the onset and duration of blockade but, the effect was found to be more pronounced with Dexmedetomidine.