Abstract

INTERSCALENE BRACHIAL PLEXUS BLOCK FOR SHOULDER ARTHROSCOPIC SURGERY: PROSPECTIVE RANDOMISED CONTROLLED STUDY OF EFFECTS OF 0.5% ROPIVACAINE AND 0.5% ROPIVACAINE WITH DEXAMETHASONE

Dr. R. Yogarajan, Dr. N. Vidhya and *Dr. Raj M.

Abstract

Interscalene block (ISB) provides excellent anaesthesia and analgesia for shoulder surgery.[1] However, post-operative analgesia is not sufficient to help in early mobilisation. Various additives such as epinephrine[2] and clonidine[3] have been studied to prolong the duration of peripheral nerve blocks however, these agents may have undesirable side effects. Dexamethasone prolongs the effect of peripheral nerve block when added to short-acting local anaesthetics.[4] We have recently started using ropivacaine for single shot ISB for shoulder, which provides excellent intraoperative anaesthesia, but duration of post-operative analgesia is limited. Various studies have shown that dexamethasone is a safe adjunct to ropivacaine;[4],[5] therefore, we wanted to evaluate the additive effect of dexamethasone and ropivacaine used in ISB for shoulder surgeries.

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