Dar 2013.

Methods	Parallel group RCT.
Participants	In India, 80 ASA class I‐II participants aged 20‐50 years undergoing upper limb surgery with supraclavicular brachial plexus block were included. No exclusion criteria were stated.
Interventions	Block All participants received supraclavicular brachial plexus block with ropivacaine 0.5% 30 ml using landmarks. Dexamethasone/placebo Dexamethasone group: dexamethasone 8 mg perineurally. Placebo group: normal saline 2 ml perineurally. Intraoperative anaesthesia/analgesia None described. Postoperative analgesia Diclofenac IM 75 mg was administered when the VAS was greater than 4.
Outcomes	Outcomes of interest for the review Duration of sensory block defined as the time interval between the end of local anaesthetic administration and complete resolution of sensory block (normal sensation). Duration of motor block defined as the time interval between the end of local anaesthetic administration and the recovery of full power in the relevant muscle group. Incidence of adverse events including hypotension (a 20% decrease in relation to baseline), bradycardia (heart rate less than 50 beats per minute), hypoxaemia (SpO2 < 90%) and nausea and vomiting. Other outcomes Onset of sensory block defined as the time interval between the end of local anaesthetic administration and complete sensory block. Onset of motor block defined as the time interval between the end of local anaesthetic administration and the time of no movement in the relevant group. Quality of intraoperative analgesia judged by the investigator on a 4‐point scale.
Notes	Funding: none. Conflicts of interest: none.
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Unclear risk	No indication of how random sequence was generated.
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Low risk	Sealed envelopes were used to conceal treatment allocation.
Blinding of participants (detection bias)	Unclear risk	No indication whether participants were blinded.
Blinding of personnel (detection bias)	Unclear risk	No indication whether personnel were blinded.
Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) All outcomes	Unclear risk	No indication whether outcome assessors were blinded.
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes	Low risk	No missing outcome data.
Selective reporting (reporting bias)	Low risk	No protocol available. All outcomes reported as described in the methods section.
Other bias	Low risk	Appears to be free of any other bias.