Dexamethasone Added to Levobupivacaine Improves Postoperative Analgesia

University Hospital Dubrava

Status: Unknown

Conditions: Analgesia; Brachial Plexus Anesthesia

Treatments: Procedure: supraclavicular brachial plexus block

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT01739270

0911

Details and patient eligibility

About

Adding dexamethasone to local anesthetic will significantly prolong duration of brachial plexus anesthesia and analgesia.

Full description

Operations of upper extremities are often performed in regional anesthesia blocks. Single-injection blocks are effective, but time limited. Adding 4mg of dexamethasone to 0.5% levobupivacaine will significantly prolong duration of brachial plexus anesthesia and analgesia for fracture operations of upper extremity. This effect will result in less opioid use postoperatively.

Enrollment: 55 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 80 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• patients aged 18 years or older
• ASA (American Society of Anesthesiologists) physical status I, II or III

Exclusion criteria

• refusal of the patients to give informed consent
• preexisting coagulation disorders
• local infection at the site of the block
• neuropathy
• drug or alcohol abusers
• known allergy to the drug used in study
• operation time exceeding six hours

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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55 participants in 2 patient groups

dexamethasone with levobupivacaine

Active Comparator group

Description:

25ml 0.5% levobupivacaine plus 4mg Dexamethasone are given for supraclavicular brachial plexus block for upper extremity surgery

Treatment:

Procedure: supraclavicular brachial plexus block

levobupivacaine

Active Comparator group

Description:

25ml 0.5% levobupivacaine plus 1ml 0.9% saline are given for supraclavicular brachial plexus block for upper extremity surgery

Treatment:

Procedure: supraclavicular brachial plexus block