i.v. regional anaesthesia in outpatient surgery

Results.Anaesthesia for surgery was adequate in both groups. Pin-prick analgesia was achieved at a similar rate, except in the radial nerve distribution area where at 10 min 60% of Ropi and 90% of Prilo patients had analgesia (P=0.017). At 10 min 100 and 97% had motor block of the hand in the Ropi and Prilo groups, respectively. Recovery of the sensory block in all innervation areas was already observed 2 min after the tourniquet cuff release. At 10 min after releasing the tourniquet cuff 31% of the Ropi patients and none of the Prilo patients still had analgesia in the median nerve distribution (P=0.004). At 12 min, 42% in the Ropi group and none in the Prilo group had decreased grip strength. After the release of the tourniquet, mean plasma concentrations of ropivacaine were higher than those of prilocaine. The highest individual concentration of ropivacaine was 1.65 mg ml 1 and that of prilocaine 0.6 mg ml . None of the Ropi patients experienced any symptoms of local anaesthetic toxicity.