Comparison between 0.5 mu g/kg Dexmedetomidine with 0.5% Lignocaine and 0.5% Lignocaine Alone in Intravenous Regional Anesthesia for Forearm Surgeries: A Randomized Controlled Study

Background: Intravenous regional anesthesia (IVRA) has been used for more than a century. We designed this study to find out the efficacy of 0.5 mu g/kg dexmedetomidine when added with 0.5% lignocaine in IVRA. Materials and Methods: A total of 60 patients were randomly assigned into two groups. Group D (n = 30) patients received 40 ml of 0.5% lidocaine with 0.5 mu g/kg dexmedetomidine and Group L (n = 30) patients received 40 ml of 0.5% lidocaine alone. Times of onset and recovery of sensory and motor blocks, tourniquet pain using visual analog scale (VAS) score, intraoperative sedation score using Ramsay sedation score and post-operative analgesia were recorded. Results: Demographic details were comparable, and there was no difference in duration of the surgery between both groups. Significantly shorter onset times and longer recovery times of sensory and motor block were recorded in Groups D compared to Group L. Delayed onset of tourniquet pain occurred in Groups D compared to Group L. About 21 patients required fentanyl to control tourniquet pain in Group L while no patients required supplementation in Groups D. Significantly lower post-operative VAS score, longer time to first dose analgesia were recorded in Groups D. Conclusion: The addition of 0.5 mu g/kg dexmedetomidine to lignocaine for IVRA reduced the time for onset of block, delayed the onset of tourniquet pain, improves quality of anesthesia prolonged post-operative analgesia and reduced post-operative analgesic requirement.