Canadian journal of anaesthesia = Journal canadien d'anesthésie
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Randomized Controlled Trial
The use of ultrasound for lumbar spinous process identification: A pilot study.
Clinical identification of lumbar spinous processes is inaccurate in most patients. The purpose of this study was to determine the number of patients required to train anesthesiologists in the use of ultrasound imaging to accurately identify the lumbar spinous processes. ⋯ It is possible to use ultrasound scanning to accurately identify the lumbar spinous processes in unselected patients. This result suggests that, with appropriate training, this tool can be used to enhance the accuracy of needle placement during neuraxial techniques.