The postoperative analgesia efficacy of dexamethasone added to bupivacaine versus bupivacaine alone in ultrasound-guided supraclavicular brachial plexus block for upper limb orthopedic surgeries, Ethiopia: An observational prospective cohort study.

Objectives: To compare the postoperative analgesia efficacy of dexamethasone added to low-dose high-volume bupivacaine in ultrasound-guided supraclavicular brachial plexus block for adult patients who underwent upper limb orthopedic surgeries at Tibebe Ghion Specialized Hospital, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. Methods: An observational prospective cohort study was conducted from 1 September 2021 to 30 January 2022. Using a systematic random sampling technique, 56 patients (equal groups of 28 patients) aged 18-60 years scheduled for elective upper limb orthopedic surgeries under supraclavicular block were recruited. According to the discretion of anesthetists' management plan of supraclavicular block, those patients who received 38 mL of 0.25% bupivacaine with 2 mL (8 mg) dexamethasone as the case group (DB) while those patients who received 40 mL of 0.25% bupivacaine alone as the cohort group (B). Time to first analgesic request, onset of sensory and motor, and motor block duration were analyzed with Student's t-test whereas pain severity and analgesic consumption were assessed using the Mann-Whitney U test. Categorical variables were analyzed using chi-square test. p-value less than 0.05 considered statistically significant. Results: Postoperative analgesia had significantly prolonged in the dexamethasone bupivacaine group with a mean duration of 1098.00 ± 195.90 min compared to 464.29 ± 113.75 min in the bupivacaine alone group, p-value < 0.001. Moreover, the dexamethasone bupivacaine group significantly consumed less total tramadol and diclofenac than bupivacaine alone, with a median dose of 0 (0-50) versus 50 (21.25-78.75) mg and 40 (0-50) versus 65 (47.50-77.50) mg, respectively. The median visual analogue scale scores were significantly reduced at 6th, 8th, 12th, and 24th hour in the dexamethasone bupivacaine group. Conclusion: Dexamethasone added to low-dose high-volume of bupivacaine in supraclavicular brachial plexus block significantly prolonged the duration of analgesia.

Knowledge, attitude, and practice of healthcare workers toward COVID-19 and its prevention in Ethiopia: A multicenter study.

BACKGROUND: An emerging respiratory disease abbreviated as coronavirus disease 2019 was first reported in December 2019 in Wuhan city of China. The virus is zoonotic and tends to be transmitted between animals to humans and humans to humans. The major route of transmission of coronavirus disease 2019 is droplet and close contact. The Ethiopian Ministry of Health has initiated training for health care workers at a different level. Thus, the main objective of this study is to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of health workers in Ethiopia toward coronavirus disease 2019 and its prevention techniques. METHOD: An institution-based multicenter cross-sectional study was conducted in each of eight teaching and referral hospitals. A total of 422 Ethiopian healthcare workers were selected for the assessment of knowledge, attitude, and practice toward coronavirus disease 2019. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire. A logistic regression model was used to identify factors associated with the attitude and knowledge of healthcare workers toward coronavirus disease 2019 at a significance level of p < 0.05. RESULT: Three hundred ninety-seven healthcare workers participated in the study, with a response rate of 94%. Among these, 88.2% and 94.7% of respondents had good knowledge and positive attitudes, respectively. A respondent with a history of chronic medical illness (odds ratio: 0.193, 95% confidence interval: 0.063-0.593), social media, telecommunication, and television/radio as a source of information were significantly associated with knowledge (odds ratio: 3.4, 95% confidence interval: 1.5-7.4, OR: 4.3, 95% confidence interval: 1.3-14.3 and odds ratio: 3.2, 95% confidence interval: 1.4-7.2). In addition, respondents with a history of chronic medical illness were significantly associated with a negative attitude toward coronavirus disease 2019. CONCLUSION: The knowledge and attitude were good while; the practice was relatively low. Sources of information such as social media, telecommunication, and television/radio were positively associated with healthcare workers' knowledge about coronavirus disease 2019.