title: Brachial plexus anaesthesia for upper limb surgery: a review of eight years' experience.
abstract: 1248 supraclavicular brachial plexus blocks and 665 axillary plexus blocks were administered to 1913 patients undergoing upper limb surgery. Plexus block alone was successful in 83.5%. In a further 11.4% of cases, adequate anaesthesia was obtained following augmentation by other regional or local techniques. This resulted in an overall success rate of 94.9% and general anaesthesia was required in only 5.1%. The two percutaneous approaches to the brachial plexus did not differ in their success-rates but clinically apparent pneumothorax occurred in 0.8% of supraclavicular blocks. Brachial plexus block anaesthesia is recommended as a safe and satisfactory alternative to general anaesthesia for upper limb surgery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Western Infirmary, Glasgow.
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Newman
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Semple
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001132:Arm / Q000601:surgery*; D001917:Brachial Plexus; D002045:Bupivacaine; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008012:Lidocaine; D008297:Male; D009407:Nerve Block; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D008012:Lidocaine; D002045:Bupivacaine