Abstract
Introduction: Diabetes mellitus is a systemic disease affecting peripheral nerves and the use of regional anaesthesia in diabetic patients undergoing surgery could be unpredictable. We investigated the efficacy of brachial plexus block in diabetic patients undergoing upper limb surgery compared to normal individuals.
Method: Four hundred and fifty-two patients had a brachial plexus block performed under ultra-sound guidance by senior anaesthetists. There were 221 males and 231 females. Fifty-five patients were diabetic (mean age of 61 years, SD 12), 24 with type 1 and 31 with type 2 diabetes. Mean age of non-diabetic patients was 55 years (SD 15). A mixture of 0.5% Bupivacaine and 1% Prilocaine was used for the block. Post-operative proximal and distal motor and sensory functions were assessed. The assessment was conducted at a mean of 4.6 hours (SD 2.2 hours) post-operatively. MRC grading system was used to asses motor function while sensory function was assessed subjectively using a graded scale between 0, absent sensation, 1, altered sensation and 2, normal sensation.
Results: Brachial plexus block was as efficient in diabetic patients proximally for motor and sensory functions compared to non-diabetic patients. There was significant difference in the efficacy of the block distally between diabetic and non-diabetic patients in both motor (P< 001) and sensory function (P< 0001). Furthermore, in diabetic patients the response to the block between type 1 and type 2 was statistically significant (P< 001).
Conclusion: In diabetes, the efficacy of brachial plexus block is different compared to normal individuals. This study showed that brachial plexus block can be used efficiently in shoulder surgery in patients with diabetes. In more distal surgery, orthopaedic surgeons as well as anaesthetists should be prepared to either reinforce the block by using a local anaesthetic or to convert to general anaesthesia, if necessary, in diabetic patients.
The abstracts were prepared by Mr Matt Costa and Mr Ben Ollivere. Correspondence should be addressed to Mr Costa at Clinical Sciences Research Institute, University of Warwick, Clifford Bridge Road, Coventry CV2 2DX, UK.
