Use of Clonidine Adjuvant along with Bupivacaine for axillary Brachial Plexus Block: A Randomized Control Study

Axillary Brachial Plexus Block

Abstract

Background: Peripheral nerve blockade has become an important and growing part of anesthesia. It offers an excellent substitute for patients who are hemodynamically compromised or too ill to tolerate general anesthesia. However, there is no data available on the effect of clonidine with bupivacaine in axillary plexus block or any peripheral nerve block.Therefore, present study was designed to compare the effects of adjuvant clonidine to bupivacine with solo bupivacine for axillary brachial plexus block. Subjects and Methods: The present prospective, randomized, controlled, study was conducted in the Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care, NC Medical College. Patients were arbitrarily assigned to one of the two groups of 30 patients each. Group I (n=30) Patients received 25 ml of Bupivacaine (0.5%) + 1 ml of normal saline. Whereas, Group II (n =30) Patients received 25 ml of Bupivacaine (0.5%) + 1ml (150?g) clonidine. Results: It is evident that onset of motor block was 8.72 minute faster in group I Bupivacaine clonidine patients. Duration of motor block was significantly high in Bupivacaine clonidine group patients (440.442.18 min) compare to Bupivacaine group patients (198.3327.86 min) with p value <0.01. Duration of analgesic effects was significantly high in bupivacaineclonidine patients in comparison of bupivacaine patients (718.640.6 min vs 512.8 32.9 min, p<0.01). Conclusion: Findings of the current study suggest that use of clonidine as adjuvant to bupivacaine hasten motor and sensory block as well as prolonged duration of analgesic effects in comparison of solo use of bupivacaine without inducing any side effects except some sedation in postoperative period.