A systematic review and meta‐analysis of perineural dexamethasone for peripheral nerve blocks

Summary We systematically reviewed the safety and efficacy of perineural dexamethasone as an adjunct for peripheral nerve blockade in 29 controlled trials of 1695 participants. We grouped trials by the duration of local anaesthetic action (short‐ or medium‐ vs long‐term). Dexamethasone increased the mean (95% CI) duration of analgesia by 233 (172–295) min when injected with short‐ or medium‐term action local anaesthetics and by 488 (419–557) min when injected with long‐term action local anaesthetics, p