USE OF COLOR DOPPLER SONOGRAPHY FOR QUANT ITATION OF THE CHANGES IN THE BLOOD-FLOW FOLLOWING AXILLARY PLEXUS BLOCK

The axillary brachial plexus block is a well-known technique for intra - and postoperative analgesia and sympathetic blockade in hand and mic rosurgery. The aim of this study was to show the influence of the axil lary brachial plexus block on the blood flow as a side effect. Methods . We used a colour-coded sonography unit (Toshiba) with a 7.5-MHz tran sducer. A total of 12 patients with no clinical signs of vascular dise ases were enrolled in this study. We measured the peak blood flow velo city and the peak flow at the bifurcation of the brachial artery and v ein and the proximal and distal radial artery before and after the ple xus block. In addition, we were able to take the morphological aspects of the analysed vessels into consideration as we also used convention al sonography. This was done to detect any early signs of vascular mal formation or arteriosclerosis, either of which might have affected the measurements. Results. The average arterial peak blood flow after the plexus block was 1.9 times that before. On the venous side, the block effect caused an average increase of the blood flow to 8.6 times than before the block. In general, an additional and immediate effect of t he block was a significant rise in blood flow velocity with an increas e in cross-section area. Conclusions. The brachial plexus block combin es two advantages: pain relief and pain management plus temporary symp athectomy. In conclusion, it prevents vasospasms and improves the circ ulation of the hand in patients undergoing reimplantation of limbs and those with nutritional disorders.