Low Dose Dexamethasone in Supraclavicular Blocks

Summary

Brachial plexus nerve blocks provide superior analgesia over opioids while avoiding unwanted side effects. Single shot blocks with local anesthetic alone usually do not last the duration of the acute post-surgical pain period. This has led to the exploration of multiple adjuvants to increase the duration of single shot blocks, the most promising adjuvant being dexamethasone. Peri-neural administration is an off-label use of dexamethasone. While no adverse events have been reported in human clinical studies, logic would dictate that we minimize the dose needed to produce the desired effect. Most studies thus far have used peri-neural dexamethasone doses ranging from 4-10 mg. However, Albrecht et al. found no difference in block duration comparing 4 mg and 8 mg doses while Liu et al. reported equivalent block duration using doses of 1, 2 and 4 mg. Recent studies have evaluated whether systemic and peri-neural administrations of dexamethasone are equivalent, which would in turn imply a site of action. Results have been mixed. Four studies concluded peri-neural and intravenous administration are equivalent at prolonging analgesia, though one study had methodological errors, including the administration of intravenous dexamethasone to all patients. All of these studies used dexamethasone doses of 8 to 10 mg. One study where a lower dose (4 mg) was used found that peri-neural administration prolonged block duration whereas intravenous did not. With that, the rationale of our study is to determine if equivalent block-prolonging analgesia can be achieved using low dose (1 mg) dexamethasone given peri-neural or intravenous. Clinical experience at our centre has been that 1 mg dexamethasone added to 20 mL produces similar block duration to that reported in published studies using higher doses.

Timeline

Start

2016-09

Primary completion

2020-02

Completion

2021-02

Publications

• Background Fredrickson MJ, Krishnan S, Chen CY. Postoperative analgesia for shoulder surgery: a critical appraisal and review of current techniques. Anaesthesia. 2010 Jun;65(6):608-624. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2044.2009.06231.x.
• Background Noss CD, MacKenzie LD, Kostash MA. Adjuvant dexamethasone: innovation, farce, or folly? Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2014 Nov-Dec;39(6):540-5. doi: 10.1097/AAP.0000000000000148. No abstract available.
• Background Choi S, Rodseth R, McCartney CJ. Effects of dexamethasone as a local anaesthetic adjuvant for brachial plexus block: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials. Br J Anaesth. 2014 Mar;112(3):427-39. doi: 10.1093/bja/aet417. Epub 2014 Jan 10.
• Background Huynh TM, Marret E, Bonnet F. Combination of dexamethasone and local anaesthetic solution in peripheral nerve blocks: A meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. Eur J Anaesthesiol. 2015 Nov;32(11):751-8. doi: 10.1097/EJA.0000000000000248.
• Background Albrecht E, Kern C, Kirkham KR. A systematic review and meta-analysis of perineural dexamethasone for peripheral nerve blocks. Anaesthesia. 2015 Jan;70(1):71-83. doi: 10.1111/anae.12823. Epub 2014 Aug 14.
• Background Knight JB, Schott NJ, Kentor ML, Williams BA. Neurotoxicity of common peripheral nerve block adjuvants. Curr Opin Anaesthesiol. 2015 Oct;28(5):598-604. doi: 10.1097/ACO.0000000000000222.
• Background Williams BA, Hough KA, Tsui BY, Ibinson JW, Gold MS, Gebhart GF. Neurotoxicity of adjuvants used in perineural anesthesia and analgesia in comparison with ropivacaine. Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2011 May-Jun;36(3):225-30. doi: 10.1097/AAP.0b013e3182176f70.
• Background Williams BA, Butt MT, Zeller JR, Coffee S, Pippi MA. Multimodal perineural analgesia with combined bupivacaine-clonidine-buprenorphine-dexamethasone: safe in vivo and chemically compatible in solution. Pain Med. 2015 Jan;16(1):186-98. doi: 10.1111/pme.12592. Epub 2014 Oct 23.
• Background Castillo J, Curley J, Hotz J, Uezono M, Tigner J, Chasin M, Wilder R, Langer R, Berde C. Glucocorticoids prolong rat sciatic nerve blockade in vivo from bupivacaine microspheres. Anesthesiology. 1996 Nov;85(5):1157-66. doi: 10.1097/00000542-199611000-00025.
• Background De Oliveira GS Jr, Almeida MD, Benzon HT, McCarthy RJ. Perioperative single dose systemic dexamethasone for postoperative pain: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Anesthesiology. 2011 Sep;115(3):575-88. doi: 10.1097/ALN.0b013e31822a24c2.
• Background Waldron NH, Jones CA, Gan TJ, Allen TK, Habib AS. Impact of perioperative dexamethasone on postoperative analgesia and side-effects: systematic review and meta-analysis. Br J Anaesth. 2013 Feb;110(2):191-200. doi: 10.1093/bja/aes431. Epub 2012 Dec 5.
• Background Desmet M, Braems H, Reynvoet M, Plasschaert S, Van Cauwelaert J, Pottel H, Carlier S, Missant C, Van de Velde M. I.V. and perineural dexamethasone are equivalent in increasing the analgesic duration of a single-shot interscalene block with ropivacaine for shoulder surgery: a prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled study. Br J Anaesth. 2013 Sep;111(3):445-52. doi: 10.1093/bja/aet109. Epub 2013 Apr 15.
• Background Rahangdale R, Kendall MC, McCarthy RJ, Tureanu L, Doty R Jr, Weingart A, De Oliveira GS Jr. The effects of perineural versus intravenous dexamethasone on sciatic nerve blockade outcomes: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Anesth Analg. 2014 May;118(5):1113-9. doi: 10.1213/ANE.0000000000000137.
• Background Fredrickson Fanzca MJ, Danesh-Clough TK, White R. Adjuvant dexamethasone for bupivacaine sciatic and ankle blocks: results from 2 randomized placebo-controlled trials. Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2013 Jul-Aug;38(4):300-7. doi: 10.1097/AAP.0b013e318292c121.
• Background Abdallah FW, Johnson J, Chan V, Murgatroyd H, Ghafari M, Ami N, Jin R, Brull R. Intravenous dexamethasone and perineural dexamethasone similarly prolong the duration of analgesia after supraclavicular brachial plexus block: a randomized, triple-arm, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2015 Mar-Apr;40(2):125-32. doi: 10.1097/AAP.0000000000000210.
• Background Kawanishi R, Yamamoto K, Tobetto Y, Nomura K, Kato M, Go R, Tsutsumi YM, Tanaka K, Takeda Y. Perineural but not systemic low-dose dexamethasone prolongs the duration of interscalene block with ropivacaine: a prospective randomized trial. Local Reg Anesth. 2014 Apr 5;7:5-9. doi: 10.2147/LRA.S59158. eCollection 2014.
• Background Liu J, Richman KA, Grodofsky SR, Bhatt S, Huffman GR, Kelly JD 4th, Glaser DL, Elkassabany N. Is there a dose response of dexamethasone as adjuvant for supraclavicular brachial plexus nerve block? A prospective randomized double-blinded clinical study. J Clin Anesth. 2015 May;27(3):237-42. doi: 10.1016/j.jclinane.2014.12.004. Epub 2015 Jan 28.
• Background Bolin ED, Wilson S. Perineural Versus Systemic Dexamethasone: Questions Remain Unanswered. Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2015 Jul-Aug;40(4):393-4. doi: 10.1097/AAP.0000000000000262. No abstract available.
• Background Beecroft CL, Coventry DM. Anaesthesia for shoulder surgery. Continuing Education in Anaesthesia, Critical Care & Pain 2008 ; 8: 193-98
• Background Perlas A, Lobo G, Lo N, Brull R, Chan VW, Karkhanis R. Ultrasound-guided supraclavicular block: outcome of 510 consecutive cases. Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2009 Mar-Apr;34(2):171-6. doi: 10.1097/AAP.0b013e31819a3f81.
• Background Ultrasound for Regional Anesthesia, Supraclavicular Block. 2008; http://www.usra.ca/supneedle.php accessed September 22, 2015
• Background Cummings KC 3rd, Napierkowski DE, Parra-Sanchez I, Kurz A, Dalton JE, Brems JJ, Sessler DI. Effect of dexamethasone on the duration of interscalene nerve blocks with ropivacaine or bupivacaine. Br J Anaesth. 2011 Sep;107(3):446-53. doi: 10.1093/bja/aer159. Epub 2011 Jun 14.
• Background Shrestha BR, Maharjan SK, Shrestha S, Gautam B, Thapa C, Thapa PB, Joshi MR. Comparative study between tramadol and dexamethasone as an admixture to bupivacaine in supraclavicular brachial plexus block. JNMA J Nepal Med Assoc. 2007 Oct-Dec;46(168):158-64.

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Indications