Role of Superficial Cervical Plexus Nerve Block as an Adjuvant to Local Anesthesia in the Maxillofacial Surgical Practice

PURPOSE Infiltration techniques are used as an adjuvant to regional anesthesia. In this study, we evaluated the efficacy of the superficial cervical plexus nerve block, as an alternative to local infiltration techniques; in the management of mandibular fractures and peri-mandibular space infections. METHODS A prospective randomized controlled trial was conducted on 24 patients having either mandibular fractures or peri-mandibular space infections; and were scheduled for surgery under regional anesthesia (eg, inferior alveolar nerve block, long buccal nerve block). The control group involved delivering a combination of regional anesthesia along with local infiltration. The experimental group received regional anesthesia with a superficial cervical plexus nerve block. The following parameters were studied: pain, onset and duration of anesthesia, time interval until first analgesic request, pulse rate and blood pressure [at different time intervals]. RESULTS Intergroup comparison was done using unpaired t-test. Intragroup comparison was done using repeated measures ANOVA (for >2 observations), followed by a post hoc test. The superficial cervical plexus nerve block group showed highly statistically significant (P < .01) improvement in terms of intra-operative pain at 30 minutes, duration of anesthesia, intraoperative anesthetic requirement, time interval until first analgesic request and intraoperative diastolic blood pressure at 10 minutes. CONCLUSION It can be concluded that the combination of a regional anesthesia technique with a superficial cervical plexus nerve block is an alternative and safe technique for patients undergoing surgery for mandible fractures and perimandibular space infections, with clear advantages over local infiltration.