Background: A variety of localized procedures are utilized during anterior neck surgeries, with the cervical fascia being the primary site of involvement. When dexmedetomidine is added to bupivacaine, bilateral superficial cervical plexus block (BSCPB) guided by ultrasound (US) may produce longer-lasting analgesia.
The study's objectives are to asses the quality of postoperative analgesia with US-guided BSCPB utilizing two distinct dosages of dexmedetomidine (50 µg and 100 µg) combined with bupivacaine.
Patients and Methods: Three equal groups of 75 healthy patients, ages 18 to 70 years, both sexes, with ASA I-II (scheduled for thyroidectomy under general anesthesia), were randomly assigned. Group BD50 received US-BSCPB with 20 ml (18ml 0.5% bupivacaine with 50 µg diluted dexmedetomidine in 2 ml saline); group BD100 received US-BSCPB with 20ml (18ml 0.5% bupivacaine with 100 µg diluted dexmedetomidine in 2 ml saline). Group B received US-BSCPB with 20 ml (18 ml 0.5% bupivacaine + 2 ml saline). A postoperative Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) was the primary outcome. Intraoperative hemodynamics, the time of the first analgesic rescue, the total dose of postoperative analgesics, nausea, and vomiting were the secondary outcomes.
Results: Group BD100 had a significantly lower post-operative VAS and a longer mean time of the first analgesic rescue (P<0.001) than groups BD50 and B. Also, there was reduced postoperative nausea and vomiting in both groups receiving dexmedetomidine.
Conclusion: The quality of analgesia with manageable side effects was improved and the duration of postoperative analgesia for BSCPB was prolonged when adding 100 µg dexmedetomidine to bupivacaine.