The Effect of Dexamethasone on duration of surgical anesthesia and postoperative analgesia in USG guided ankle block using 0.5% ropivacaine for foot surgeries

Central neuraxial block or spinal anaesthesia remainsan established technique for lower limb surgeries but with considerablehemodynamic changes few of these challenges which are faced by spinalanaesthesia block preoperatively are infection at the site of injection,deformities of the vertebral column, coagulopathy or other bleeding diathesis,severe hypovolemia or increased intracranial pressure.Ankle block usuallyprovides sufficient anesthesia for foot surgeries. It is often applied as anadjuvant to general anesthesia to establish postoperative analgesia but afterevolution of USG guided ankle block it is now used as sole surgical anesthesiaas well as post operative analgesia and success rate has become much higher.The advantages of ankle block include the capability of controlling acutesurgical pain, quicker patient ambulation, and absence of adverse effectsrelated to opioids or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

It is often difficult to demarcate the smallnerves around the ankle on static images. Real-time imaging makes theirposition and boundaries easier to define; as we can follow their course and seetheir location relative to the other landmarks and structures.