Shivering during regional anaesthesia and its control with pethidine

Ninety-seven consecutive patients who underwent four different types of regional anaesthesia such as lumbar epidural, spinal, caudal and brachial blocks were studied for their incidence of shivering. Fifty percent of patients who received epidural anaesthesia shivered compared to 19% of patients who received either spinal or caudal anaesthesia. None of the patients who had brachial block shivered. Intravenous injection of 25 mg pethidine would stop shivering in almost all patients who shivered during regional blocks.