COMPARISON BETWEEN DEXMEDETOMIDINE AND DEXAMETHASONE AS ADJUVANT TO ROPIVACAINE IN ULTRASOUND GUIDED SUPRACLAVICULAR BRACHIAL PLEXUS BLOCK

Pain can result in physiological changes in the intraoperative period and psychological effects postoperatively. Regional anesthesia has been used as a sole anesthesia technique and as supplementary to general anesthesia. The brachial plexus blockade is a time-tested technique for upper limb surgeries. The search for better adjuvants to local anesthetics for nerve blocks for rapid onset, prolonged duration of analgesia and with lesser side effects has been never ending. Various adjuvants like opioids, neostigmine, midazolam, hyaluronidase, alpha 2 adrenergic receptor agonists, corticosteroids, and epinephrine have been used to modify the onset of action, enhance the quality of block, and prolong the duration of post-operative analgesia. In this study, we aim to evaluate Dexmedetomidine and Dexamethasone as adjuvants to Ropivacaine in comparison to Ropivacaine alone for ultrasound guided brachial plexus block. The minimum sample size comes to 25 in each group. In this study, 30 patients will be taken up in each group for proper randomization and exclusion of any patient due to block failure. The study will be conducted in the Department of Anesthesiology, Old block, Jubilee Mission Medical College and Research Institute, Thrissur.