Supplemental Pethidine and Fentanyl to Local Anesthetics in Supraclavicular Block

It has been suggested since long that peripheral nerves possess opioid receptors and this has tempted clinicians in adding narcotics to local anesthetics to prolong the analgesic effects of these solutions. In this regard, we studied 45 patients undergoing surgical procedures on upper extremities. The patients scheduled for surgery were divided in to three groups, each comprising of 15 patients and all the patients underwent supraclavicular block. In group A, we used 5 mg/kg of 1.5 percent lidocaine, in group B the same dose of lidocaine along with 1 mcg/kg of fentanyl solution was used. Lidocaine in the above dosage and pethidine 1 mg/kg were injected to the patients in group C to facilitate supraclavicular block. The average length of analgesia was 180 minutes in group A, 300 minutes in group B and 406 minutes in group C. In conclusion: Adding pethidine or fentanyl to local anesthetics can increase the analgesia period 2-3 times. Although pethidine implies longer effect than fentanyl, but this difference is not significant (P> 0.05). Acta Medica Iranica, 41(2): 134-137; 2003