The Effect of Brachial Plexus Nerve Block on Distal Peripheral Nerve Conduction

The purpose of this study is to determine the conducting ability of distal extremity nerves after a supraclavicular brachial plexus nerve block (with local anesthetic) has been placed at a more proximal location in the upper extremity.

Study Overview

• Status: Withdrawn
• Conditions: Anesthesia

• Study Type: Observational

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Maryland
    • Fort Meade, Maryland, United States, 20755
      • Fort Meade

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Male and female military health care beneficiaries age 18 years and older presenting for hand surgery and eligible for a brachial plexus nerve block will be asked to participate in this study.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Male and female military health care beneficiaries 18 years and older, capable of providing informed consent indicating awareness of the investigational nature of the study, in keeping with institutional policy
• Written informed consent must be obtained from each patient prior to entering the study
• Patients must be willing to have a regional anesthetic nerve block placed prior to their scheduled procedure
• Patients must be willing to have neurodiagnostic tests performed prior to placement and after placement of the regional anesthesia nerve block

Exclusion Criteria:

• Refusal to have a brachial plexus nerve block placed
• Refusal to have serial nerve conduction studies performed
• Contraindication for a regional anesthesia nerve block (allergy to local anesthetic, infection at site of injection, elevated coagulation time)
• Presence of conditions affecting the hand or arm (e.g., injury, infection) that might preclude the performance of nerve conduction studies
• Presence of known major abnormalities of nerve conduction, e.g., absent median sensory potential in a patient scheduled for carpal tunnel release
• Presence of conditions affecting the contralateral hand or arm (e.g., injury, infection) that might preclude the performance of sensory and motor studies to test block or absence of a contralateral upper extremity

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Compund Muscle Action Potential (CMAP) amplitude	measured for motor studies from baseline to peak in mV	1 day

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Distal Latency	the interval between the stimulation of a compound muscle and the observed response. Normal nerve conduction velocity is above 40 m/sec in the lower extremities and above 50 m/sec in the upper extremities, but age, muscle disease, temperature, and other factors can influence the velocity.	1 day
Peak Latency	This represents conduction along the majority of the axons; It is recorded at the peak of the waveform response	1 day
Onset Latency	This represents conduction along the fastest axons; It is recorded at the initial deflection from baseline	1 day

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Defense and Veterans Center for Integrative Pain Management

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: November 1, 2011
• Primary Completion (Actual): September 1, 2014

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 17, 2012
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 25, 2012
• First Posted (Estimate): October 29, 2012

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): January 29, 2016
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 28, 2016
• Last Verified: January 1, 2016

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Nerve Block; Brachial Plexus; Nerve Conduction
• Other Study ID Numbers: 365681-8