Suprascapular nerve blockInterscalene block Anaesthesia Post-operative analgesia a b s t r a c t Background: Shoulder arthroscopic surgeries have a high incidence of severe post-operative pain significant enough to interfere with recovery and rehabilitation. A regional anaesthetic technique combined with general anaesthesia reduces intra-operative requirements of anaesthesia and provides a better post-operative pain relief. As the commonly employed technique of interscalene brachial plexus block (ISB) is associated with potential serious complications, suprascapular nerve block (SSB) can be used as a safer alternative. Methods and material: In this prospective study, 60 ASA 1 or 2 adult patients undergoing shoulder arthroscopic surgery were randomised into two groups -ISB and SSB. In group ISB, ISB with 20 ml of 0.5% bupivacaine mixed with 75 mg clonidine was given. In the SSB group SSB was given with 15 ml of 0.5% bupivacaine with 75 mg clonidine. Pain was assessed using visual analogue scale and verbal pain scale scores and time to first rescue analgesia was noted. We used Student's t test and Chi-square/Fisher Exact test and used a statistical software to compare data. Results: In the present study, the mean duration of analgesia was 2.53 AE 2.26 h in SSB group compared to 7.23 AE 6.83 h in group ISB ( p value < 0.05). Overall rescue analgesic §

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