Comparison of unilateral and bilateral subarachnoid blockade for arthroscopic knee surgery

Introduction: spinal anaesthesia is the most common procedure for lower limb procedures in the field orthopedics. Limiting the spinal anaesthesia to surgical field can avoid the undesirable complications caused by conventional spinal anaesthesia.Material and methods: Two groups of patients are included as per physical status ASA I and II. Spinal anaesthesia is performed with 25G Quincke’s needle and 0.5% hyperbaric bupivacaine is used. In Group UB, spinal anaesthesia was given with the patient in lateral position using 1.5 ml of hyperbaric bupivacaine and the lateral decubitus position was maintained for 10 min.In Group BB, spinal anaesthesia was given with the patient in lateral position using 2.5 ml of hyperbaric bupivacaine, and the patients was immediately turned to supine position, after subarachnoid injectionResults: The demographic data were comparable in both groups. The sensory and motor onset time in group BB was shorter than group UB. The total duration of sensory and motor block was shorter in group UB. There were no failure of spinal anaesthesia in both groups. The complications was higher in group BB than group UB.Conclusion: Restricting the spinal anaesthesia block to the operated limb will help to achieve unilateral block. It provides adequate sensory and motor blockade adequate to perform the orthopedic surgery and also with stable hemodyanamics