Clonidine significantly prolongs the analgesic duration after popliteal fossa nerve blockade with bupivacaine.

No clinical benefit was obtained from perioperative administration of pregabalin (100 mg preoperative, then 50 mg every 12 hrs) as part of a multimodal postoperative analgesic regimen following foot and ankle surgery.

Background and Objectives Sciatic nerve block provides analgesia after foot and ankle surgery, but block duration may be insufficient. We hypothesized that perineural dexamethasone and buprenorphine would reduce pain scores at 24 hours. Methods Ninety patients received ultrasound-guided sciatic (25 mL 0.25% bupivacaine) and adductor canal (10 mL 0.25% bupivacaine) blockade, with random assignment into 3 groups (30 patients per group): control blocks + intravenous dexamethasone (4 mg) (control); control blocks + intravenous buprenorphine (150 mcg) + intravenous dexamethasone (intravenous buprenorphine); nerve blocks containing buprenorphine + dexamethasone (perineural). Patients received mepivacaine neuraxial anesthesia and postoperative oxycodone / acetaminophen, meloxicam, pregabalin, and ondansetron. Patients and assessors were blinded to group assignment. The primary outcome was pain with movement at 24 hours. Results There was no difference in pain with movement at 24 hours (median score 0). However, the perineural group had longer block duration vs control (45.6 vs 30.0 hr). Perineural patients had lower scores for “worst pain” vs control (median 0 vs 2). Both intravenous buprenorphine and perineural groups were less likely to use opioids on the day after surgery, vs control (28.6%, 28.6%, 60.7%, respectively). Nausea after intravenous buprenorphine (but not perineural buprenorphine) was severe, frequent, and bothersome. Conclusions Pain scores were very low at 24 hours after surgery in the context of multimodal analgesia and were not improved by additives. However, perineural buprenorphine and dexamethasone prolonged block duration, reduced the worst pain experienced, and reduced opioid use. Intravenous buprenorphine caused troubling nausea and vomiting. Future research is needed to confirm and extend these observations.