Regional anesthesia and pain medicine
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Reg Anesth Pain Med
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Jul 2007
ReviewShould we add clonidine to local anesthetic for peripheral nerve blockade? A qualitative systematic review of the literature.
Although clonidine has been shown to prolong analgesia in central neuraxial blocks, its use in peripheral nerve blocks remains controversial. We performed a systematic review of the current literature to determine the benefit of adding clonidine to peripheral nerve blocks. ⋯ Clonidine improves duration of analgesia and anesthesia when used as an adjunct to intermediate-acting local anesthetics for some peripheral nerve blocks. Side-effects appear to be limited at doses up to 150 mug. Evidence is lacking for the use of clonidine as an adjunct to local anesthetics for continuous catheter techniques. Further research is required to examine the peripheral analgesic mechanism of clonidine.