The Efficacy Of Dexamethasone Added As an Adjuvant To Local Anesthetic In Brachial Plexus Block For Postoperative Analgesia

Introduction: Regional anesthesia techniques like brachial plexus block for upper limb surgeries provide excellent anesthesia and post operative analgesia. Local anesthetic adjuvants like dexamethasone prolong the duration of analgesia with less side effects.Aims and objectives:To observe the onset of sensory and motor blockade To observe duration of motor blockade To observe duration analgesia To observe perioperative hemodynamic stability.To observe perioperative adverse effects and complications.Materials and methods: supraclavicular block was given to two Group of patients using ultrasonography guidance. Group S: Patients who received 0.5% bupivacaine 23 ml plus 0.9% normal saline 2 ml making a total volume of 25 ml were included in Group S.Group D: Patients who received 0.5% bupivacaine 23 ml plus dexamethasone 8 mg (2 ml) making a total volume of 25 ml were included in Group D .Sensory block; motor block; hemodynamic repsonse; post op analgesia was observed.Conclusion: In conclusion , adding Dexamethasone (8mg) as an adjuvant to 0.5% bupivacaine in ultrasound guided supraclavicular brachial plexus block results in faster onset of sensory and motor block with the significant prolongation of duration of motor block and post operative analgesia without any side effects.