Perineural dexamethasone has been investigated as an adjuvant for brachial plexus nerve blocks, but it is not known whether the beneficial effect of perineural dexamethasone on analgesia duration leads to a better quality of surgical recovery. We hypothesized that patients receiving dexamethasone would have a better quality of recovery than patients not receiving dexamethasone. We also sought to compare the effect of perineural with that of IV dexamethasone on block characteristics.