Perioperative Pain Alleviation of Forearm Fractures Using a Combination of Hematoma Block and Intravenous Regional Anesthesia by Ketamine and Lidocaine

Fractures of the forearm are extremely common, Pain relief is of utmost importance in forearm fractures which may need manipulation immediately for reduction followed by operative intervention

The characteristic features of ideal analgesia during reduction are determined by safety, simplicity, affectivity and costs. Giventhe logistic difficulty of providing such anesthesia to such large number of patients simpler alternatives to conventional anesthesia have been tried. Hematoma Block alone, Hematoma Block with sedation, Bier's Block (Intravenous regional anesthesia), regional nerve blocks, sedation have been compared to general anesthesia to evaluate the efficacy, effectiveness, safety in treating such patients

Amongst various techniques, HB and IVRA are attractive options. However, while HB has been demonstrated to be safe simple and has been used effectively for treatment of radius fractures in ER and for immediate pain relief it doesn't provide muscular relaxation and may not be sufficient for any operative intervention

IVRA is suitable for operations of the distal extremities, in situations where it is safe and easy to apply an occlusive tourniquet. The primary advantages of IVRA are its simplicity, reliability, and cost-effectiveness. . It is a regional anesthetic technique that is easy to perform, with success rates varying between 94% and 98%.For these reasons, it remains a popular choice among anesthesiologists.

A combination of blocks is usually done to overcome the deficiencies of individual blocks and to improve operating conditions or to prolong post operative analgesia. However the use of dual technique of IVRA and HB with local anesthetic only offered near absence of post operative analgesia