The role of interscalene brachial plexus block anaesthesia in arthroscopic shoulder surgery; a prospective study

Hosain Hadi; Baha J Tadros; Tony Kochhar; Baljinder S Dhinsa

doi:10.1016/j.jcot.2021.01.004

The role of interscalene brachial plexus block anaesthesia in arthroscopic shoulder surgery; a prospective study

J Clin Orthop Trauma. 2021 Jan 20:16:154-156. doi: 10.1016/j.jcot.2021.01.004. eCollection 2021 May.

Authors

Hosain Hadi¹, Baha J Tadros¹, Tony Kochhar¹, Baljinder S Dhinsa¹

Affiliation

¹ Trauma and Orthopaedics Department, William Harvey Hospital, East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust, United Kingdom.

Abstract

The choice of anaesthetic in shoulder surgery is an evolving field of research which has important implications for patient outcomes. We have performed a prospective study to assess the usability of an interscalene brachial plexus block (ISBPB) with sedation as the primary anaesthetic and analgesic for arthroscopic shoulder surgery. Our study assessed the requirements of analgesia peri-operatively and post operatively and found that patients had no requirement (n = 30) and minimal requirements with a low pain score (visual analogue score; mean 2.4, range 2-5) respectively. We also found that patients spent a short amount of time in recovery (31 min mean, range 21-48 min) and were able to be discharged on the same day. Our findings suggest that ISBPB with sedation is a viable option in arthroscopic shoulder surgery for a variety of procedures with positive effects for patient outcomes and mobility.

Keywords: Anaesthesia; Analgesia; Arthroscopic; Arthroscopy; Block; Brachial; Interscalene; Pain; Plexus; Shoulder; Surgery.