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Background and Aims: Even though patient tolerance is critical to the success of noninvasive ventilation (NIV), research on using sedation to improve tolerance to NIV after traumatic chest injuries is limited. We hypothesized that dexmedetomidine would be superior to ketamine in terms of patient tolerance and lengthening the NIV sessions after blunt chest trauma. Material and Methods: This randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial included 45 patients of both genders aged 18–60 who needed NIV after blunt chest trauma. The patients were randomly assigned to one of three groups (n = 15) for receiving dexmedetomidine, ketamine, or placebo (0.9% sodium chloride solution) infusion to maintain a Richmond Agitation Sedation Scale (RASS) score between 0 and − 3 during two successive NIV sessions. Patients were evaluated for the duration of the NIV sessions, RASS, Visual Analog Scale (VAS), and the total amount of rescue analgesia consumed. Results: The mean duration of the NIV sessions was significantly longer in patients who received dexmedetomidine (P < 0.001) or ketamine (P < 0.001) compared to placebo. However, the NIV durations did not differ significantly between the dexmedetomidine and ketamine groups (P > 0.05). The dexmedetomidine group had a significantly lower RASS score compared to the ketamine (P < 0.001) and placebo (P < 0.001) groups, whereas the ketamine group had a significantly lower VAS compared to the dexmedetomidine (P = 0.005) and placebo (P = 0.022) groups and required significantly less total morphine (P = 0.001) compared to the other groups. Conclusion: The duration of the NIV sessions for patients with blunt chest trauma did not differ significantly between the dexmedetomidine and ketamine groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background & objective: The benefits of sphenopalatine ganglion (SPG) block during endoscopic septoplasty are yet unclear due to a lack of adequate data. We investigated the efficacy of SPG block (SPGB) with lidocaine versus bupivacaine for minimizing intraoperative bleeding and providing a bloodless surgical field in patients having endoscopic septoplasty under general anesthesia. Methodology: In this double-blind, randomized controlled trial, 60 patients with ASA I and II were scheduled for endoscopic septoplasty. Following standard general anesthesia, patients were randomly assigned to one of three groups. Group C (n = 20): SPGB was performed using normal saline in the control group; Group L (n = 20); patients received SPGB with 2% lidocaine, and Group B (n = 20); patients received SPGB with 0.5% bupivacaine. Intraoperative blood loss, surgical field quality, postoperative pain-free duration, postoperative analgesic requirements, and the patient satisfaction were recorded. The collected data were verified, coded by the researcher, and analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (IBM-SPSS/PC/VER 21). Statistical analysis was done with the Shapiro-Wilk test, one-way ANOVA test and two-way repeated measure ANOVA test as required. The Kaplan-Meier curve was plotted to explore the differences in the post-operative pain-free durations among the studied groups using the logrank test. A p-value less than 0.05 was considered significant. Results: The intraoperative blood loss and surgical field grading were lower in the groups treated with lidocaine (44.9 ± 3.7 ml, P < 0.001) or bupivacaine (41.4 ± 2.9 ml, P < 0.001) in comparison to the control group (89.95 ± 7.8 ml). There was no difference between the two groups. Postoperative meperidine requirement in 24 h was higher in the control group (36.25 ± 2.9 mg) than the lidocaine group (18.75 ± 2.5 mg; P < 0.001) and the bupivacaine group (16.25 ± 2.7 mg; P < 0.001). Conclusion: Sphenopalatine ganglion blockade with bupivacaine or lidocaine decreased intraoperative blood loss and improved surgical field visibility compared to placebo during endoscopic septoplasty under general anesthesia. There were statistically no significant differences in sphenopalatine ganglion blocks with either lidocaine or bupivacaine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background & objective: There have been a lack of consensus among the anesthetists regarding the utility of different opioids as adjuvants in brachial plexus blockade (BPB). The results vary and there is no agreement. We studied the utility of fentanyl versus tramadol as an adjunct to local anesthetic bupivacaine in ultrasound-guided supraclavicular BPB. Methodology: The study was conducted on 71 patients who were randomized in three groups for ultrasound-guided supraclavicular brachial plexus block. Group B: received 20 ml bupivacaine 0.5% plus fentanyl (100 µg = 2 ml); Group T: received 20 ml bupivacaine 0.5% plus tramadol (100 mg - 2 ml). Data was collected for the onset and duration of sensory and motor block, time to first request for rescue analgesia and the total analgesic consumption in first 24 h postoperatively. Results: There was a significantly shorter time to the onset of sensory blockade (p = 0.001) and motor blockade (p = 0.001) in Group T compared to Group B and Group F (p = 0.045 and p = 0.001, respectively). The time to first analgesic requests was significantly longer in the tramadol and fentanyl groups than in the bupivacaine group (p = 0.001 and p = 0.021, respectively) and significantly longer in the tramadol group compared to the fentanyl group (p = 0.041). Conclusion: Tramadol as an adjuvant to bupivacaine in ultrasound-guided supraclavicular BPB produces a significantly prolonged analgesia with a shorter onset of sensory and motor blockade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]