Comparison Of Dexmedetomidine And Dexamethasone As An Adjuvant To Bupivacaine In Brachial Plexus Block

Brachial plexus block is a regional anaesthesia technique employed as a safe and valuable alternative to general anaesthesia for upper limb surgery. In recent practices of day care surgeries, brachial plexus block seems to be a better alternative to general anesthesia with minimal hospital stay and better analgesic effect. Among several techniques of brachial plexus block, supraclavicular approach is considered as easiest, effective and can be performed much more quickly than other approaches. Various local anaesthetic agents and adjuvants are used for this purpose. Among them, bupivacaine has been the most widely used long-acting local anaesthetic agent. Combining local anesthetics with different adjuncts can prolong the duration of analgesia associated with brachial plexus block. Among various adjuncts, dexamethasone and dexmedetomidine have been identified as clinically effective adjuncts. Several metaanalyses have convincingly demonstrated their efficacy in prolonging the analgesic duration of brachial plexus block. However, there has been limited research conducted to compare the effects of dexamethasone and dexmedetomidine added as adjuvants to the local anesthetics for BPB. Studies have demonstrated benefits of one agent over other without any definitive conclusion as which is the best agent for this purpose. Therefore, there is a need of study to compare the onset and duration of bupivacaine when dexmedetomidine or dexamethasone is used as an adjuvant to bupivacaine for ultrasound-guided supraclavicular BPB