Korean J Anesthesiol.  2001 Oct;41(4):428-433. 10.4097/kjae.2001.41.4.428.

Effects of Clonidine Added to Ropivacaine in Epidural Anesthesia

• Cho YH
• Lee JH
• Lee SG
• Kim JI
• Ban JS
• Min BW

• KMID: 2240008
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4097/kjae.2001.41.4.428

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Clonidine has been regarded as an adequate supplementary anesthetic during epidural anesthesia and has been used with local anesthetics such as bupivacaine or lidocaine to support the effects of these anesthetics. The authors would examine whether clonidine is an adequate supplementary anesthetic when it is used with ropivacaine during epidural anesthesia.
METHODS
Thirty-two healthy patients undergoing a hip or lower limb surgery were divided into two groups. In group 1, 0.5% ropivacaine 15 ml was administered. In group 2, 0.5% ropivacaine 15 ml combined with clonidine 150 micro gram was administered. Onset, duration and maximal height of sensory block were assessed. Sedation score, blood pressure and heart rate were measured.
RESULTS
Duration of sensory block of group 2 was significantly longer than that of group 1. Sedation score of group 2 was significantly higher than that of group 1. Blood pressure of group 2 was significantly lower than that of group 1 at 50 min, 70 min and 90 min after epidural injection. No significant differences were observed in onset of sensory block and heart rate between the two groups.
CONCLUSIONS
The addition of clonidine to ropivacaine during epidural anesthesia prolonged duration of sensory block and produced useful sedation. It caused relatively stable hemodynamic changes. These results suggest that clonidine is an adequate supplementary anesthetic when it is used with ropivacaine during epidural anesthesia.

Keyword

ropivacaine; epidural; Sympathetic nervous system; clonidine

MeSH Terms

Anesthesia, Epidural*
Anesthetics
Anesthetics, Local
Blood Pressure
Bupivacaine
Clonidine*
Heart Rate
Hemodynamics
Hip
Humans
Injections, Epidural
Lidocaine
Lower Extremity
Sympathetic Nervous System
Anesthetics
Anesthetics, Local
Bupivacaine
Clonidine
Lidocaine