Selective Trunk Block: A Study to Evaluate Block Dynamics, Effects and Efficacy for Upper Limb Surgery

The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Status: Completed

Conditions: Upper Extremity Problem

Treatments: Procedure: Selective Brachial Plexus Block

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT04752410

Updated SeTB (CREC.2020.308)

Details and patient eligibility

About

Brachial plexus block (BPB) is frequently used as the sole anesthetic technique for upper extremity surgery. The choice of technique often depends on the site of surgery because the extent of sensory-motor blockade after a BPB varies with the technique used. The investigator is not aware of any single BPB technique described to date that can consistently produce surgical anesthesia of the whole ipsilateral upper extremity. However, occasionally surgery entails that the whole upper extremity, i.e. from the shoulder to the elbow, or even the forearm, wrist or hands. This clinical challenge has been addressed previously using a combination of BPB techniques. The investigator has recently demonstrated that it is feasible to accurately identify majority of the main components of the brachial plexus above the clavicle, including the three trunks, using ultrasound imaging. Since majority of the innervation of the upper extremity, i.e. shoulder, arm, elbow, forearm, wrist and hand, originates from the three trunks of the brachial plexus, the investigator hypothesized that selectively blocking upper, middle, and inferior trunks of the brachial plexus will produce surgical anesthesia of the whole ipsilateral upper extremity. This study is a continuation of a previously approved study with title "Selective Trunk Brachial Plexus Block: A Prospective Non-Randomized Study of Intervention" [NCT04510259] after the amendment (study title, protocol and increased sample size) was rejected by local IRB and suggested to submit as a new protocol. The aim of this study is to assess a novel brachial plexus block technique, the selective trunk block (SeTB), and provide preliminary clinical evidence of its effectiveness in producing surgical anesthesia of the whole ipsilateral upper extremity.

Full description

Brachial plexus block (BPB) is frequently used as the sole anesthetic technique for upper extremity surgery. The choice of technique often depends on the site of surgery because the extent of sensory-motor blockade after a BPB varies with the technique used. The investigator is not aware of any single BPB technique described to date that can consistently produce surgical anesthesia of the whole ipsilateral upper extremity (shoulder to fingers). However, occasionally surgery entails that the whole upper extremity is anesthetized, i.e. from the shoulder to the elbow, or even the forearm, wrist or hands. This clinical challenge has been addressed previously using a combination of BPB (hybrid) techniques. The investigator has recently demonstrated that it is feasible to accurately identify majority of the individual components of the brachial plexus above the clavicle, including the three trunks, using ultrasound imaging. Since majority of the innervation of the upper extremity, i.e. shoulder, arm, elbow, forearm, wrist and hand, originates from or pass through the three trunks of the brachial plexus, the investigator hypothesized that selectively blocking the upper, middle, and inferior trunks of the brachial plexus will produce surgical anesthesia of the whole ipsilateral upper extremity, except for the area innervated by the intercostobrachial nerve (T2 - medial aspect of the upper arm). The investigator refers this novel technique as "selective trunk block" (SeTB). Currently there are no published data on block dynamics, safety or efficacy of SeTB. In addition, there may be a potential advantage that phrenic nerve can be spared, so this blockade will not affect the respiratory function as it is common to see phrenic nerve palsy after interscalene BPB (100%) and supraclavicular BPB (50-67%). This study is a continuation of a previously approved study with title "Selective Trunk Brachial Plexus Block: A Prospective Non-Randomized Study of Intervention" [NCT04510259] after the amendment (study title, protocol and increased sample size) was rejected by local IRB and suggested to submit as a new protocol. The aim of this study is to assess a novel brachial plexus block technique, the selective trunk block (SeTB), and provide preliminary clinical evidence of its effectiveness in producing surgical anesthesia of the whole ipsilateral upper extremity.

Enrollment: 30 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 80 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• elective upper extremity surgery
• emergency upper extremity surgery

Exclusion criteria

• Patient refusal
• pregnancy
• local skin site infection
• allergy to local anesthetics
• bleeding tendency
• pre-existing neurological deficit
• pre-existing neuromuscular disease.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: N/A

Interventional model: Single Group Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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30 participants in 1 patient group

Selective Brachial plexus block

Experimental group

Description:

Selective brachial plexus block will be done under ultrasound guidance to patients scheduled for upper extremity surgeries. Local anesthetic agents (a mixture of 2% lidocaine with 1:200,000 epinephrine and 0.5% levobupivacaine in a total of 25ml) will be injected at the superior, middle, and inferior trunks of the brachial plexus in order to anesthetize the whole upper limb.

Treatment:

Procedure: Selective Brachial Plexus Block