Effect of ultrasound-guided scalp nerve block on hemodynamics and postoperative agitation in hypertensive cerebral hemorrhage craniotomy patients: a prospective randomized controlled study

Objective: This study aims to investigate the impact of dexmedetomidine combined with ropivacaine scalp nerve block (SNB) on analgesic effects in patients undergoing craniotomy for hypertensive intracerebral hemorrhage (HICH). Methods: A prospective randomized controlled trial was conducted on 120 HICH patients who underwent craniotomy at Longyan First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University from May 2022 to April 2024. Patients were randomly divided into three groups: control group (A, no SNB), ropivacaine SNB group (B, 0.5% ropivacaine), and dexmedetomidine-ropivacaine SNB group (C, 0.5% ropivacaine + 0.5 μg/kg dexmedetomidine), with 40 patients in each group. Primary outcomes included intraoperative hemodynamic parameters [mean arterial pressure (MAP), heart rate (HR)], intraoperative anesthetic consumption, postoperative Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) scores, rescue analgesia requirements, and incidence of adverse reactions within 48 h postoperatively. Results: > 0.05). Conclusion: Dexmedetomidine combined with ropivacaine for SNB improves postoperative analgesia, stabilizes intraoperative hemodynamics, reduces anesthetic usage and rescue analgesia needs, and lowers the incidence of adverse reactions in HICH craniotomy patients, making it a safe and effective analgesic strategy. Clinical trial registration: chictr.org.cn, identifier ChiCTR2500106043.