Regional anesthesia and pain medicine
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · May 2004
Case ReportsThe use of cervical paravertebral block as the sole anesthetic for shoulder surgery in a morbid patient: a case report.
The purpose of this case report is to describe the use of the cervical paravertebral block as the sole anesthetic for shoulder surgery in a patient unable to tolerate general anesthesia. Recent literature describes the continuous cervical paravertebral block as an effective alternative to the interscalene block for the management of postoperative pain after shoulder surgery. ⋯ Continuous cervical paravertebral block provided excellent surgical conditions and postoperative pain relief for this patient and allowed gradual and intermittent dosing of the catheter and continuous assessment of the anesthetic impact on respiratory function.
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · May 2004
Clinical evaluation of a modified posterior anatomical approach to performing the popliteal block.
Tibial and common peroneal nerves can be blocked by the posterior approach to the popliteal fossa. Techniques using fixed measured distances between knee skin crease and puncture point have been described. We report on an approach that is based on manual identification of the apex of the popliteal fossa. ⋯ The modified posterior anatomical approach for popliteal sciatic nerve block is easy to perform, has a high success rate, and has a low complication rate. The location of the needle insertion point is assessed without any measurement, thus avoiding inaccuracies caused by repeated skin-distance measurements.
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · May 2004
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical TrialProspective comparison of continuous femoral nerve block with nonstimulating catheter placement versus stimulating catheter-guided perineural placement in volunteers.
Stimulating catheter-guided perineural placement may potentially increase the success rate and quality of continuous femoral nerve block as compared with a nonstimulating catheter technique. These hypotheses have not been rigorously tested. ⋯ In this volunteer study, there was no statistically significant difference in block success between the two techniques. However, stimulating catheter-guided placement provided an increased overall quality of continuous femoral perineural blockade. Further studies are needed to verify these observations in the clinical setting.
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · May 2004
Review Comparative StudyPostoperative cognitive function as an outcome of regional anesthesia and analgesia.
It has been suggested that intraoperative neuraxial (spinal, epidural) anesthesia may decrease postoperative cognitive dysfunction when compared with general anesthesia, but the issue remains controversial. We systematically reviewed the data from published studies to determine the effect of intraoperative neuraxial anesthesia versus general anesthesia on postoperative cognitive dysfunction and delirium. ⋯ The use of intraoperative neuraxial anesthesia does not appear to decrease the incidence of postoperative cognitive dysfunction when compared with general anesthesia. There are methodologic and study-design issues present in many studies, and further elucidation of the pathophysiology of postoperative cognitive dysfunction may provide a direction for future studies.