Our experience on brachial plexus blockade in upper extremity surgery

Objective: Peripheral nerve blocks are usually used either alone or along with general anesthesia for postoperative analgesia. We also aimed to present the results and experiences.Materials and methods: This retrospective study was conducted to scan the files of patients who underwent orthopedic upper extremity surgery with peripheral nerve block between September 2009 and October 2010. After ethics committee approval was obtained, 114 patients who were ASA physical status I-III, aged 18-70, performed upper extremity surgery in the Orthopedics and Traumatology Clinic were included to study. Patients’ demographic data, clinical diagnoses, premedication status, peripheral block type, local anesthetic dose, stimuplex needle types, hemodynamic parameters at the during surgery, the first postoperative analgesic requirements, complications and patient satisfaction were recorded.Results: Demographic data were similar to each other. Brachial plexus block was commonly performed for the forearm surgery. Infraclavicular block was performed the most frequently to patients. As the classical methods in the supine position were preferred in 98.2% of patients, Stimuplex A needle (B. Braun, Melsungen AG, Germany) have been used for blockage in 80.7% of patients. Also, in 54.4% of patients, 30 ml of local anesthetic solution composed of bupivacaine + prilocaine was used for blockade. Blocks applied to patients had provided adequate anesthesia.Conclusion: Since the brachial plexus blockade guided peripheral nerve stimulator for upper extremity surgery provide adequate depth of anesthesia and analgesia, it may be a good alternative to general anesthesia because of unwanted side effects