OBJECTIVE We aimed to compare lateral and midline epidural anaesthesia using a levobupivacaine-fentanyl combination in patients undergoing unilateral lower extremity operation for anaesthetic effects and postoperative complications. METHODS The study included 40 American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) I-II group patients. At the L4-5 space, an epidural catheter was placed in patients in G...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Initiation of epidural anesthesia with long-lasting local anesthetics consumes a significant amount of time, which could be problematic in busy obstetric anesthesia suites. We have hypothesized that a combination of articaine and ropivacaine provides faster onset and even an early recovery of sensory-motor block characteristics. METHODS Sixty term parturients schedul...

Background:Magnesium has anti-nociceptive effects and potentiates opioid analgesia following its systemic and neuraxial administration. In our study, the effect of intravenous magnesium sulphate in pre-eclamptic patients on spinal anaesthesia produced by bupivacaine was investigated. Materials and Methods:Sixty pregnant (30 normal and 30 pre-eclamptic) patients were enrolled in this study in tw...

Aim: We aimed to compare the clinical efficacy of levobupivacaine alone and levobupivacaine/sufentanil combination in spinal anesthesia for transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) in elderly patients. Method: Ninety patients were randomly assigned into two groups to receive either levobupivacaine 10 mg (Group L) or levobupivacaine 7.5 mg combined with 2.5 μg sufentanil (Group LS) for spi...

BACKGROUND Administration of local anesthetics at body temperature has been reported to shorten the onset time of regional block; however, studies examining the effects of warmed lidocaine on the onset of epidural anesthesia are limited. Here, we ascertain whether warming lidocaine solution to body temperature shortens the time to onset of epidural anesthesia. METHODS Eighty patients were ran...

BACKGROUND The level of sensory block in postoperative epidural analgesia has been correlated with conventional contrast epidurography in only one study, while low-dose CT scan epidurography with multiplanar reconstruction may be a better tool for this purpose. OBJECTIVES The primary objective of this study was to evaluate, by CT imaging and digital multiplanar reconstruction, the spread and ...

BACKGROUND Ropivacaine provides effective spinal anaesthesia for total hip arthroplasty. This study was designed to compare the efficacy and safety of plain ropivacaine with plain bupivacaine for spinal anaesthesia in patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty. METHODS Sixty-six patients, ASA I or II, were randomized to receive an intrathecal injection of one of two local anaesthetic solution...

BACKGROUND Intrathecal α2 agonists prolong the duration of action of local anesthetics and reduce the required dose. Dexmedetomidine is an α2 receptor agonist and its α2/α1 selectivity is 8 times higher than that of clonidine. AIMS In this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of adding dexmedetomidine to intrathecal levobupivacaine on the onset time and duration of motor and sensory bloc...

This qualitative systematic review summarizes existing evidence from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing ultrasound (US) to alternative techniques for lower extremity peripheral nerve block. There were 11 RCTs of sufficient quality for inclusion. Jadad scores ranged from 1 to 4 with a median of 3. For femoral nerve blocks, US provided shorter onset and improved quality of sensory and ...