PERIBULBAR ANESTHESIA USING A MIXTURE OF LOCAL-ANESTHETIC AND VECURONIUM

The aim of this double-blind, randomised study was to assess the effec ts of the addition of 0.5 mg of vecuronium bromide to a standard local anaesthetic mixture used for peribulbar anaesthesia. We studied 60 pa tients undergoing regional anaesthesia for intra-ocular surgery and we re primarily interested in the quality of globe and lid akinesia. AU r eceived a mixture of 5 mi 2% lignocaine with 1:200 000 adrenaline, 5 m l 0.75% bupivacaine and 150 IU hyaluronidase with either 0.9% saline 0 .25 ml (group A, n = 30) or vecuronium bromide 0.25 mi (0.5 mg) (group B, n = 30). Eye movements assessed at both 5 and 10 min were signific antly reduced in the vecuronium group (group B) (p < 0.05). We conclud e that the addition of vecuronium at a dose of 0.5 mg to the standard local anaesthetic mixture improves the quality of globe and Lid akines ia.