title: Evaluating the quality of intravenous regional anesthesia following adding dexamethasone to lidocaine.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The quality of anesthesia in intravenous regional anesthesia (IVRA) has been evaluated in many studies so far. This study was designed to evaluate the effects of adding the dexamethasone to lidocaine on the quality of IVRA.
  
  
  METHODS
  A double-blind clinical trial was set up involving 50 hand surgery candidates, 20 to 55 years old, and with American Society of Anesthesiologists class of I and II. Patients were randomly allocated into two groups of 25 cases and received either 3 mg/kg of lidocaine (control group) or 3 mg/kg of lidocaine plus 8 mg of dexamethasone (study group). The onset and recovery times from sensory and motor blocks, the starting time of tourniquet pain, the amount of narcotics needed during patients' recovery, and probable side-effects were all compared between the two groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  No significant differences were detected concerning age, gender, length of surgery and the mean time of starting of tourniquet pain between the two groups. The mean times of both sensory (P = 0.002) and motor (P = 0.004) blocks onset were significantly shorter in the study group. The mean time of recovery from sensory block was significantly longer in the study group (P = 0.01). The average amount of narcotics needed during the recovery was significantly lower in the study group (P = 0.01). No side-effect was detected.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We conclude that adding the dexamethasone to lidocaine can improve the quality of anesthesia in IVRA.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Urmia, Iran.
authors.forename: Ebrahim
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hassani
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Urmia, Iran.
authors.forename: Alireza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mahoori
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Urmia, Iran.
authors.forename: Mir Mousa
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Aghdashi
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Information Technology, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Urmia, Iran.
authors.forename: Habibollah
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Pirnejad
keywords: Analgesia; anesthesia; conduction; dexamethasone