Level of Evidence:Level V, expert opinion.

Abstract

A 58-year-old man presented with swelling in the left inguinal region and loss of appetite, nausea and azotemia with a serum creatinine of 5.2 mg/dL and urine albumin of 1+ and normal size kidneys with no hematuria. His serum creatinine increased to 9 mg/dL over 1 month, his total proteins were 10.8 and serum albumin was 3.3 g/dL, and lymph node excision biopsy showed fragments of lymphoid tissue with interfollicular areas containing sheets of plasma cells and atretic germinal centers. In view of unexplained renal failure, he underwent renal biopsy, which showed interstitial inflammatory infiltrate composed of lymphocytes and rich in plasma cells with storiform fibrosis and a possibility of IgG4-related renal disease was reported. On further evaluation, serum electrophoresis showed no M band. Serum IgG4 levels were 18.2 g/L (0.03–2 g/L). A diagnosis of IgG4-related renal disease was confirmed.

Spinal anaesthesia is preferred for lower abdominal and lower limb surgeries. Bupivacaine is the most popular local anaesthetic for subarachnoid blockade because of less neurotoxicity. Intrathecal bupivacaine alone may be insufficient to provide prolonged post-operative analgesia, even with high sensory block. So, various adjuvants are used like ketamine, midazolam, clonidine, opioids, neostigmine etc. to prolong the effect of local anaesthetic.To compare the effect of intrathecal fentanyl and fentanyl-midazolam combination with hyperbaric bupivacaine for quality of anaesthesia and post-operative analgesia.Study was conducted on 60 patients aged 20-60 years and were randomly divided into two groups of 30 patients each. Group A received 0.5% bupivacaine heavy 3 ml (15mg) + fentanyl 0.5 ml (25µg) and Group B 0.5% bupivacaine heavy 2.8 ml (14mg) +fentanyl 0.5 ml (25 µg) + midazolam 0.2 ml (1mg). Total volume is 3.5 ml in both groups. They were assessed for quality of block, post-operative analgesia and perioperative complications.Data were compared using t- test(unpaired). The level of significance used was p<0.05. There was a significant difference in onset and duration of sensory and motor block, time to administer first rescue analgesia in group B. Addition of midazolam (1mg) to fentanyl with bupivacaine intrathecally gives better onset & duration of sensory & motor blockade and longer duration of post-operative analgesia.

Abstract