Patients and methods
lower limb neurological deficit, allergy
ALLERGY
The study was conducted at the Department of General Surgery, Assiut University main hospital, in accordance with the declarations of Helsinki. Approval was obtained from the local ethics committee with the IRB no:17101550, and the study was registered as a clinical trial with the ID: NCT04778189. Written informed consent was obtained from all patients who participated in this monocentric double-blind randomized controlled study. A total of 200 patients, both male and female, aged between 18 and 60 years old, and classified as American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) physical status I- II scheduled for lower abdominal surgery under spinal anesthesia were randomly divided into two groups, the dexamethasone group (Dexa group) and the control group, with 100 patients in each group. Patients with a history of allergy to amide local anesthetics (LAs) or dexamethasone, preexisting lower limb neurological deficit, or chronic use of corticosteroids were excluded from the study.