INTRODUCTION Bupivacaine is the most commonly used local anaesthetic for spinal anaesthesia (SA). There are two forms of commercially available bupivacaine; isobaric bupivacaine (IB): a formulation with a specific gravity or density equal to cerebrospinal fluid, and hyperbaric bupivacaine (HB): a formulation with density heavier than cerebrospinal fluid. The difference in densities of the two a...

PURPOSE To comparatively study the efficacy and maternal and fetal side-effects of two doses of bupivacaine associated with morphine and clonidine, administered by the subarachnoid route for cesarean section. METHODS The study included 66 pregnant women at term, distributed into two groups. GI: bupivacaine 8.0 mg (1.6 mL) + clonidine 75 µg (0.5 mL) + morphine 100 µg (1.0 mL) and GII: bupivaca...

BACKGROUND Preliminary work has shown that ropivacaine provides spinal anaesthesia of shorter duration than bupivacaine, and may be of particular use in the day-case setting. However, there are few data comparing the actions of plain and hyperbaric solutions of this drug. METHODS Forty ASA grade I-II patients undergoing elective perineal surgery under spinal anaesthesia were randomized to rec...