Comparison of effects of dexmedetomidine and clonidine as adjuvant to bupivacaine 0.25% in ultrasound guided supraclavicular brachial plexus block

Abstract

INTRODUCTIONThe use of USG (ultrasound) guided peripheral nerve block is a relatively new technique that is rapidly gaining popularity over more traditional techniques of peripheral nerve stimulators and parasthesia.1 Use of ultrasound not only avoids the injury to the nerves associated with blind paraesthesia technique but also decreases the total dose ABSTRACT Background: Ultrasound guided brachial plexus block is the preferred technique for surgeries on upper limb. Adjuvants are usually added to peripheral nerve blocks to increase their analgesic efficiency and duration. We compared analgesic effects of dexmedetomidine 1mcg/kg and clonidine 1mcg/kg as adjuvant to a low volume of bupivacaine in USG guided supraclavicular brachial plexus block. Methods: A prospective, randomized controlled, double blind study planned after permission from institutional ethics committee. Sixty ASA grade I, II patients, 18-60 years undergoing upper limb orthopedic surgery included. Group 1 (Control group) received 20 ml of 0.25% bupivacaine. Group 2 (Dexmedetomidine group) received 20ml of bupivacaine + dexmedetomidine (10 ml of 0.5% bupivacaine + 1µg/kg of dexmedetomidine, diluted with 0.9% NS to 20 ml) Group 3 (Clonidine group) received 20 ml of 0.25 bupivacaine + clonidine (10ml of 0.5% bupivacaine+1µ g/kg of clonidine, diluted with 0.9% NS to 20 ml) in USG guided supraclavicular brachial plexus block. Continuous variables analyzed with analysis of variance or Kruskal-Wallis test and categorical variables with Fisher's exact test. Results: Pain free period was 864.90±357.16 minutes: dexmedetomidine group; 584.59±172.38 minutes: clonidine group, 431.78±138.40 minutes: control group with p< 0.001. VRS (verbal rating score) was significantly higher in control group as compared to dexmedetomidine at 4 hours but the pain scores were comparable between all the groups after 8 hours of block. Conclusions: Dexmedetomidine as an adjuvant to bupivacaine provides prolonged anaesthesia, better pain relief in early postoperative period with haemodynamically stable, calm patients compared to clonidine and control group.

Perineural and intravenous dexamethasone and dexmedetomidine: network meta‐analysis of adjunctive effects on supraclavicular brachial plexus block

“…Thirty‐eight articles were peer‐reviewed and indexed trials [32, 34, 36–38, 42, 44, 53, 54, 58, 59, 63, 66, 69, 72, 75, 79, 81–84, 94, 96, 99, 102, 105, 107, 109, 110, 113–116, 123, 124, 127–129], while 62 articles were peer‐reviewed, non‐indexed publications [33, 35, 39–41, 43, 45–52, 55–57, 60–62, 64, 65, 67, 68, 70, 73, 74, 76–78, 80, 83, 85–93, 95, 97, 98, 100, 101, 103, 104, 106, 108, 111, 112, 117–122, 125, 126, 130, 131]. Fifty‐four trials used bupivacaine as their long‐acting local anaesthetic [32–35, 38, 40–44, 46–48, 50, 51, 54, 55, 57–59, 61, 62, 64–66, 68–72, 76, 77, 79, 85, 89–91, 93, 94, 98–101, 103, 104, 106, 112, 116–118, 122, 124–126], 14 used levobupivacaine [37, 45, 63, 73, 78, 82, 83, 86, 87, 97, 109, 111, 115, 121] and 32 used ropivacaine […”

“…For motor block duration, 23 studies were judged to be at low risk of bias [32, 35, 38, 39, 42, 45, 53, 54, 56, 59, 65, 76, 81, 82, 92–94, 107, 110, 113, 115, 116], 67 studies were at some risk of bias [33, 34, 36, 37, 40, 43, 48, 50–52, 55, 57, 58, 60–62, 67, 68, 70–75, 77–80, 83–91, 95–106, 108, 109, 111, 114, 117–126, 128–131] and 3 studies were at high risk of bias [41, 63, 127]. The provision of inadequate detail about randomisation and allocation concealment was the most common reason for downgrading the rating, followed by concerns relating to outcome measurement.…”

“…Similarly, pairwise meta‐analysis of 53 trials for sensory block duration [73–111, 113–122, 125, 126, 128, 129] and 53 trials for motor block duration [73–111, 113–122, 125, 126, 128, 129] comparing perineural dexmedetomidine vs. control arms did not reveal any sub‐group differences by indexing status (see online Supporting Information). Consequently, indexed and non‐indexed papers were pooled and analysed in the network, as decided a priori.…”

“…The network geometry for our two main outcomes was as follows. Eighty‐five trials with 5134 patients examined sensory block duration [33–39, 41–43, 45, 47, 48, 52, 55–59, 61, 63, 65, 67, 68, 70, 71, 73–111, 113–131] (Fig. 1).…”

“…Consequently, these arms yielded estimates from indirect comparisons only. Ninety‐three trials with 5668 patients examined motor block duration [32–43, 45, 48, 50–63, 65, 67, 68, 70–111, 113–131] (Fig. 2).…”