• De Quang Hieu Tran, Gianluca Russo, Loreto Muñoz, Cedrick Zaouter, and Roderick J Finlayson.
• Department of Anesthesia, Montreal General Hospital, 1650 Ave Cedar, D10-144 Montreal, Quebec H3G-1A4, Canada. de_tran@hotmail.com
• Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2009 Jul 1;34(4):366-71.

BackgroundThis prospective, randomized, observer-blinded study compared ultrasound-guided supraclavicular (SCB), infraclavicular (ICB), and axillary (AXB) brachial plexus blocks for upper extremity surgery of the elbow, forearm, wrist, and hand.MethodsOne hundred twenty patients were randomly allocated to receive an ultrasound-guided SCB (n = 40), ICB (n = 40), or AXB (n = 40). Performance time (defined as the sum of imaging and needling times) and the number of needle passes were recorded during the performance of the block. Subsequently, a blinded observer recorded the onset time, block-related pain scores, success rate (surgical anesthesia), and the incidence of complications. The main outcome variable was the total anesthesia-related time, defined as the sum of performance and onset times.ResultsNo differences were observed between the 3 groups in terms of total anesthesia-related time (23.1-25.5 mins), success rate (95%-97.5%), block-related pain scores, vascular puncture, and paresthesia. Compared with the supraclavicular and infraclavicular approaches, ultrasound-guided AXBs required a higher number of needle passes (6.1 [SD, 2.0] vs 2.0-2.6 [SD, 1.1-1.8]; both P < or = 0.001), a longer needling time (7.4 mins [SD, 2.2 mins] vs 4.9-5.5 mins [SD, 1.9-4.2 mins]; both P < or = 0.016), and a longer performance time (8.5 mins [SD, 2.3 mins] vs 6.0-6.2 mins [SD, 2.1-4.5 mins]; both P < or = 0.008). Supraclavicular blocks resulted in a higher rate of Horner syndrome (37.5% vs 0%-5%; both P < 0.001).ConclusionAdjunctive ultrasonography results in similar success rates, total anesthesia-related times, and block-related pain scores for the SCB, ICB, and AXB.

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