Clinical trial NCT03572686: Dexamethasone at Lower Concentration Ropivacaine in the Supraclavicular Nerve Block
Official title: Comparison of the Effects of Adding Dexamethasone at 0.25% Ropivacaine With 0.5% Ropivacaine Alone in the Supraclavicular Brachial Plexus Block
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: UNKNOWN
Phase: NA
Conditions: Analgesia
Motor Activity
Brachial Plexus Block
Keywords: supraclavicular nerve block
dexamethasone
Ropivacaine
Lead sponsor: Kaohsiung Medical University Chung-Ho Memorial Hospital
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2018-06-28
Enrollment: 90
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 20
Maximum age (years): 75
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: OTHER

Brief summary: The supraclavicular brachial plexus block is widely used in upper limb surgery below the shoulder. However, this can easily lead to long-term motor nerve blockage, Horner's syndrome, phrenic nerve paralysis or systemic poisoning, and even serious side effects such as cardiac arrest.

Dexamethasone is a synthetic corticosteroid and becoming more common to use steroids as an adjunct to local anesthetics in brachial plexus block.

In order to reduce the incidence of long-acting topical anesthetics from the nerve block in the supraclavicular arm, reducing the local anesthetic concentration is a feasible method, but this will also result in a shorter time to neurological block. The investigators hypothesized that the addition of Dexamethasone 5 mg to low concentrations (0.25%) of Ropivacaine would prolong postoperative analgesia.Therefore, the purpose of this study was to compare the postoperative analgesia and the side effects of postoperative supraclavicular brachial plexus blockade with the addition of Dexamethasone 5mg to Ropivacaine (0.5%) alone and Ropivacaine (0.25%) in low concentrations.

Detailed description: The supraclavicular brachial plexus block is widely used in upper limb surgery below the shoulder. Although it is easier and more stable than axillary nerve block and subclavian brachial plexus block, long-acting local anesthetics are used for long-term blockade with traditional block methods. However, this can easily lead to long-term motor nerve blockage, Horner's syndrome, phrenic nerve paralysis or systemic poisoning, and even serious side effects such as cardiac arrest.

Ropivacaine is a novel long-acting topical amine amine topical anesthetics that lasts long and has anesthetic and analgesic effects. Its pharmacological characteristics are low cardiotoxicity, sensory block and motor block separation at low concentrations more obvious, and with the external peripheral vasoconstriction. Therefore, the drug is especially suitable for postoperative analgesia. Dexamethasone is a synthetic corticosteroid for the treatment of a wide range of symptoms including rheumatic diseases, certain skin diseases, severe allergies, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cerebral edema, and may also be combined with antibiotics for tuberculosis patients. It is becoming more common to use steroids as an adjunct to local anesthetics in brachial plexus block. Steroids have neurological blockade effects by blocking the nociceptive transmission of pith-type C-fibers and inhibiting the release of ectopic neurons. Dexamethasone, as a local anesthetic adjuvant in peripheral nerve block, has also been widely studied recently.

In order to reduce the incidence of long-acting topical anesthetics from the nerve block in the supraclavicular arm, reducing the local anesthetic concentration is a feasible method, but this will also result in a shorter time to neurological block. The investigators hypothesized that the addition of Dexamethasone 5 mg to low concentrations (0.25%) of Ropivacaine would prolong postoperative analgesia. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to compare the postoperative analgesia and the side effects of postoperative supraclavicular brachial plexus blockade with the addition of Dexamethasone 5mg to Ropivacaine (0.5%) alone and Ropivacaine (0.25%) in low concentrations.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* American society of Anesthesiology classification: I \~ III
* patients who have undergone arm surgery for blockage of the upper clavicle from nerve block

Exclusion Criteria:

* Patients had brachial plexus degeneration, coagulation abnormalities, obvious heart, lung, liver or kidney disease, body mass index less than 18.5 or greater than 35, body weight greater than 80 kg, pregnancy, regular use of steroids or opiates Opioids, chronic medication or alcohol abuse, as well as previous allergies or adverse reactions to opiates, dexamethasone, or the use of topical anesthetic Ropivacaine, were excluded from this study.

Primary outcomes:
measure: analgesic effects (the intensity of pain)
timeFrame: 24 hours after the end of surgery
Secondary outcomes:
measure: blood pressure
timeFrame: 1 hour after the end of surgery
measure: motor block
timeFrame: 24 hours after the end of surgery
measure: heart rate
timeFrame: 1 hour after the end of surgery
Other outcomes:
measure: postoperative nausea
timeFrame: 24 hours after the end of surgery
measure: postoperative vomiting
timeFrame: 24 hours after the end of surgery
Locations:
city: Kaohsiung City
country: Taiwan
facility: Kaohsiung Municipal Ta-Tung Hospital
city: Kaohsiung City
country: Taiwan
facility: Kaohsiung Medical University Hosptial
Study officials:
affiliation: Department of anesthesiology,Kaohsiung Municipal Ta-Tung Hospital , Kaohsiung City 801，Taiwan (R.O.C.)
name: Hung-Te Hsu, MD/PhD
role: STUDY_DIRECTOR
References: