Intravenous regional sympatholysis: A double-blind comparison of guanethidine, reserpine, and normal saline

Janna Blanchard, Somayaji Ramamurthy, Nicolas Walsh, Joan Hoffman, Lawrence Schoenfeld

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

110 Scopus citations

Abstract

This double-blind, randomized study was designed to compare the effectiveness of intravenous regional sympatholysis using guanethidine, reserpine and normal saline. Twenty-one patients with reflex sympathetic dystrophy of an upper or lower extremity were enrolled and received intravenous regional blockade (IVRB) with one of the three medications. There was significant pain relief in all three groups at 30 min. There were no significant differences among the three groups in the degree of pain relief, the number of patients obtaining pain relief in the 30 min after the block, or the number of patients reporting more than 50% pain relief for more than 24 hr. The saline group's high rate of pain relief could be partially due to a mechanism of tourniquet-induced analgesia.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)357-361
Number of pages5
JournalJournal of Pain and Symptom Management
Volume5
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 1990

Keywords

  • Intravenous regional block
  • guanethidine
  • reserpinc

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Nursing
  • Clinical Neurology
  • Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine

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