Abstract :
Background and Objectives: Supraclavicular block is one of the most common techniques of regional anaesthesia employed for upper limb surgeries. The practice of combining additives to local anaesthetics used in peripheral nerve blocks carries lot of advantages. Hence this study was designed to evaluate the effect of addition of Clonidine to Bupivacaine in Supraclavicular brachial plexus block.
Materials and Methods: We studied the addition of 100 µg of Clonidine to 0.375% bupivacaine compared with saline placebo in place of clonidine for nerve locator guided supraclavicular block using sublavian perivascular technique. Forty patients fulfilling inclusion criteria were divided into two groups, group B (Bupivacaine only group) and group BC (Bupivacaine and Clonidine group) and supraclavicular block was performed in them accordingly.
Results: The onset of motor and sensory blocks were quicker in group BC (4.25±0.72 min, 8.40±0.82 min respectively) compared to group B (6.40±1.14 min, 12.00±1.97 min respectively). The duration of motor and sensory block in group BC were longer (396.30±14.92 min, 466.75±13.91 min respectively) compared to group B (299.00±23.32 min, 328.95±34.13 min respectively). These were found to be statistically significant (p value < 0.05).
Conclusion: Adding clonidine to bupivacaine resulted in faster onset and longer duration of sensory and motor blockade. Intensity of postoperative analgesia also improved with mild intraoperative sedation and decreased heart rate without major haemodynamic instabilities.
Keyword :
Supraclavicular brachial plexus, Clonidine, Bupivacaine, Nerve Locator and Upper limb surgeries