Affiliations 

  • 1 Department of Anesthesiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • 2 Department of Anesthesiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Electronic address: shahnaz@ummc.edu.my
  • 3 Julius Centre University Malaya, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Braz J Anesthesiol, 2016 Jul-Aug;66(4):341-5.
PMID: 27343781 DOI: 10.1016/j.bjane.2014.11.012

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: A high sodium concentration is known to antagonize local anesthetics when infiltrated around neural tissue. Thus, we hypothesized that the onset time for sensory and motor blockade, in supraclavicular brachial plexus block using ropivacaine diluted with dextrose would be shorter than with saline.

METHODS: Patients scheduled for upper limb surgery were randomized to receive ultrasound guided supraclavicular brachial plexus block with 0.5% ropivacaine. Evaluation of sensory and motor blockade was performed every 5min for 60min. Patients were followed-up on postoperative day 1, and between days 7 and 10 for the presence of any complications. Twenty-five patients in each group were analyzed.

RESULTS: Mean time for onset of analgesia for the dextrose group was 37.6±12.9min while the mean time for the saline group was 45.2±13.9min with a p-value of 0.05. The effect size was 0.567, which was moderate to large. No major complications were observed.

CONCLUSION: We conclude that there was a decrease in onset time of analgesia when dextrose was used as a diluent instead of saline for ultrasound guided supraclavicular block.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.