S. A. Aasim1 , B. Syamasundara Rao2 , Nagaraj Gajagouni3
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To compare the effect of 0.5% levobupivacaine and 0.5% racemic bupivacaine in epidural anaesthesia for lower limb surgeries METHODS: A prospective study was conducted with fifty ASA (American society of Anaesthesiologists) grade I and II patients undergoing elective lower-limb surgery under epidural anaesthesia. Exclusion criteria were patients with contraindication for epidural block or history of sensitivity to any studied drug. All patients gave their informed consent. Patients were randomly allocated to the following groups Group LB (n=25) received 20 ml of 0.5% levobupivacaine and Group B (n=25) received 20 ml of 0’5% bupivacaine. The onset, duration of sensory and motor block and sideeffects were observed. RESULTS: The duration of sensory blockade were similar with Bupivacaine (326.4 ± 23.64 mins) and Levobupivacaine (335.2 ± 18.57 mins) with no statistically significant difference (p=0.1498). The duration of motor blockade were also similar with both Bupivacaine (229.6 ± 24.41) and levobupivacaine (218.4 ± 18.04) with no statistically significant differences (p=0.071). However patients allocated to receive Levobupivacaine showed a higher proportion of lack of motor blockade as determined by the modified Bromage scale and was statistically different (p=0.20). Bradycardia was seen in 2 patients in bupivacaine group and 1 patient in levobupivacaine group. Hypotension was observed in 5 patients of bupivacaine group and 3 patients of levobupivacaine group. CONCLUSION: Both drugs showed similar anaesthetic effects but a higher proportion of patients receiving levobupivacaine lacked motor blockade.
