BRACHIAL PLEXUS BLOCK

Objectives: The aim of our study is to find out the efficacy of dexamethasone(8mg) on prolonging the duration of motor and sensory blockade as used in brachial plexusblock required for forearm and hand surgeries. Study Design: Prospective randomized doubleblind trial. Period: April 2013 to May 2014, for a period of 14 months. Setting: Tertiary carehospital in Karachi Pakistan. Method: The study population consisted of 42 patients belongingto ASA classification, grades I and II, who underwent elective surgical procedures involving theforearm and hand. The patients were divided in to three groups, group A consisted of patientswho were given 2% of prilocaine at 5mg per kg of body weight, group B consisted of patientswho were given 2% of prilocaine with dexamethasone (8mg as 2ml) at group C consisted ofpatients who were given 0.5% of levobupivacaine at 1.5mg per kg of body weight. The timeduration and onset of sensory and motor blockade was duly noted for all the three groups.Data was analyzed using SPSS version 20. Results: The time of onset of motor and sensoryblock in group A and B, were very similar, there was a difference of longer duration was dulynoted in group C, which was statistically significant (p<0.001). In terms of the duration of block,a statistically significant difference was found when compared in the three groups (p<0.001).The duration of sensory and motor blockade was longer in Group C when compared to theother two groups, and they were found to be longer in group B when compared with group A(p<0.001). Side effects were not found in the study population due to small number of patientsevaluated. Conclusion: According to our study the addition of dexamethasone to the prilocaineused in hand and forearm surgeries resulted in increased duration of the sensory and motorblockade achieved. While levobupivacaine was found to be a very potent anesthetic when usedlocally for post op analgesia requirements and during long procedures.