A comparative study to assess the efficacy of addition of dexmedetomidine to levobupivacaine in brachial plexus block

Abstract

Brachial plexus block is one of the best surgical technique for upper limb surgeries. It is a good anesthetic and analgesic agent. Though levobupivacaine has a duration of action of three to eight hours it has an acceptable analgesic property and few other practical constraints. Addition of vasoconstrictors like α-adrenergic agonists, hyaluronidase, neostigmine, opioids have been found to be effective. Dexmedetomidine, an α2 receptor agonist has found to be a better adjuvant to levobupivacaine by few literatures. To assess the effect of levobupivacaine 0.5% alone and with dexmedetomidine 100 μg as an adjuvant to levobupivacaine 0.5% on the onset and duration of sensory and motor block, the duration of perioperative analgesia, complications and sedation score.This study was conducted after ethical committee clearance in a tertiary care medical college hospital in northern Kerala, India. 60 patients between the age of 18 and 60 years planned for upper limb surgery under brachial plexus block, who fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria were included in the study. A pre anesthetic checkup was done to assess the patient before including in the study. The patients who were included in the study were randomly assigned into two groups – one group received 1 ml (100µg) dexmedetomidine with 39 ml of 0.5% Levobupivacaine(LD group) and the second group received 1 ml of 0.9% normal saline and 39 ml of 0.5% Levobupivacaine(LS group) as anesthetic agent through sealed envelope technique. The clinical history, vitals and hemodynamic parameters were monitored and noted prior to and during the surgery. The data collected was analyzed and tabulated. There was no statistically significant difference between both groups with respect to age, Gender and weight signifying proper random allocation of study subjects. None in LD group required post operative analgesia. The mean duration of onset of sensory and motor block was earlier and duration of motor and sensory analgesia was prolonged with the addition of Dexmedetomidine to Levobupivacaine. The hemodynamic stability was better with Dexmedetomidine. Bradycardia was reported in 20% of study participants who were administered dexmedetomidine Dexmedetomidine added to levobupivacaine provides better anesthetic and analgesic care in upper limb surgeries done using brachial plexus block.