A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF ULTRASOUND GUIDED SUPRACLAVICULAR AND INFRACLAVICULAR BLOCKS FOR UPPER EXTREMITY SURGERIES

Background: Regional anaesthesia has many benets over general anaesthesia, including keeping the patient conscious during surgery, improving haemodynamic stability, providing excellent postoperative analgesia, and allowing for faster oral consumption after surgery. These benets accrue to the anaesthesiologist, surgeon, and patient. While the axillary technique requires a separate block of the musculocutaneous nerve, a brachial plexus block at the level of the clavicle may anaesthetise all four distal upper extremity nerve regions simultaneously. Aim And Objectives: The aim of the research was to evaluate and compare the impact of supraclavicular and infraclavicular brachial plexus blocks in terms of the duration of onset, performance, and success rate of the block. Materials And Methods: A total of Fifty patients who were scheduled for below-elbow upper limb procedures were randomly assigned to two groups: (1) infraclavicular (Group IC) and (2) supraclavicular (Group SC). Each subject was administered 30ml of 0.5% bupivacaine as the selected local anaesthetic. Observations were made about the block performance time, the time it took for the beginning of sensory and motor blockade, the overall length of the block, and the haemodynamic parameters. The major goals of the study were the performance times of the block and the commencement of the sensory blockade. The secondary outcomes were the length of the block and the haemodynamic parameters. Two two-tailed independent sample t-test was used to compare the variables. Result: Mean Block Performance Time (mins) was 15.34 was longer in infraclavicular block than among Supraclavicular block group (11.23). Mean Onset of sensory block (minutes) in Supraclavicular block group was 18.65 longer than in infraclavicular block (13.98). there was a statistically signicant difference between two groups in regards to Block performance time and onset and Duration of Sensory block. (p value <0.0001). Conclusion: The ultrasound-guided infraclavicular block is a comparatively safer approach than the supraclavicular technique, and it has a speedier onset. Repeated exposure to the procedure may decrease the time required to apply the infraclavicular block.