Lateral Sagittal Infraclavicular Block for Orthopedic Surgery: One Year Experience

Abstract

Objective: Lateral sagittal infraclavicular block (LSIB) is commonly used as a regional anesthetic technique for below the mid-humerusregion in upper-limb surgery. The primary aim of the present study was to analyze the success rate of LSIB for orthopedic surgery.Methods: We retrospectively analyzed orthopedic surgical procedures and identified patients who were applied LSIB between January2015 and December 2015. Patient age, gender, American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) classification, diagnosis, surgery time,premedication regimens, serious complications, and guidance type [ultrasound (US) or nerve stimulator (NS)] were recorded. Need foradditional sedatives and analgesics, laryngeal mask airway anesthesia, and general anesthesia was documented. The successful blockwas defined as the block sufficient to perform the surgery without any additional anesthetic and analgesic methods.Results: We identified 233 patients who underwent 244 orthopedic procedures. US-guided and NS-guided LSIB were applied in170 (69.7%) and 74 (30.3%) procedures, respectively. Mean age, gender, ASA classification, surgery time, and premedication regimens were similar in both the groups. The success rates of US-guided and NS-guided LSIB were 95.3% and 83.8%, respectively, andthis difference was significant as statistically.Conclusion: US-guided LSIB had been gradually increased in our daily practice. Moreover, US-guided LSIB had a higher successrate than NS-guided LSIB.