Anesthesiology
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Ultrasound-guided superficial cervical plexus blocks for persistent pain after suboccipital craniotomies: a randomized trial.
The efficacy of superficial cervical plexus blocks for reducing persistent pain after craniotomies remains unclear. The authors tested the primary hypothesis that preoperative ultrasound-guided superficial cervical plexus blocks reduce persistent pain 3 months after suboccipital craniotomies. ⋯ Superficial cervical plexus blocks reduce the incidence of persistent incisional pain by about a third in patients recovering from suboccipital craniotomies.
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Continuous improvement of quality and safety is a professional obligation of anesthesiologists and an ongoing activity of all academic departments and private practices. Quality improvement is an infinite process that is never fully complete but that instead evolves over time in response to emerging threats to patient safety from new medications, new surgical procedures, and increased recognition of systematic threats. This review discusses current definitions and thinking in anesthesia quality improvement, outlines recommended efforts at the local department level, and makes suggestions for the projects and activities most likely to benefit the anesthesia patients and clinicians of the future.