Regional anesthesia and pain medicine
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Mar 2011
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical TrialUltrasound guidance improves a continuous popliteal sciatic nerve block when compared with nerve stimulation.
Continuous sciatic nerve blockade at the popliteal level effectively alleviates postoperative pain after major foot and ankle surgery. No randomized controlled trials have previously compared the success rate of continuous sciatic nerve sensory blockade between ultrasound and nerve stimulation guidance. In the current study, we tested the hypothesis that ultrasound-guided catheter placement improves the success rate of continuous sciatic nerve sensory blockade compared with catheter placement with nerve stimulation guidance. ⋯ Ultrasound guidance used for sciatic catheter placement improves the success rate of sensory block, number of needle passes, patient satisfaction during catheter placement, and morphine consumption compared with nerve stimulation guidance.
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Mar 2011
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudyPosterior versus anterolateral approach interscalene catheter placement: a prospective randomized trial.
Two distinctly different approaches to interscalene catheter placement have been in common use for close to a decade. This prospective randomized study tested the hypothesis that interscalene catheters placed using the posterior approach would provide a more effective analgesia after shoulder surgery compared with catheters placed using the anterolateral approach. ⋯ Anterolateral interscalene catheters perform more effectively and are procedurally more easily placed compared with catheters placed using the posterior approach.
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Mar 2011
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudyPsoas compartment block for acute postoperative pain management after hip surgery in pediatrics: a comparative study with caudal analgesia.
Lower-limb peripheral nerve blocks in pediatrics have gained much more popularity in the last few decades. Our purpose of this study was to compare the postoperative analgesic effects between psoas compartment block (PCB) and caudal block in small children undergoing open hip reduction/osteotomies. ⋯ Use of single-shot PCB is superior to single-shot caudal block regarding length of postoperative analgesia and cumulative dose of morphine in small children undergoing open hip reduction/osteotomies.
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Mar 2011
ReviewMeralgia paresthetica: what an anesthesiologist needs to know.
Meralgia paresthetica (MP) is an entrapment pain syndrome of the lateral femoral cutaneous nerve (LFCN) of thigh. Diagnosis is principally made on clinical ground with pain and paresthesia of the anterolateral thigh. Electrophysiological test and nerve block play important roles when the diagnosis is uncertain. ⋯ Surgical options should be considered in patients refractory to those treatment options. Anesthesiologists are commonly involved in the management of MP because of their expertise in pain management and performance of the LFCN block. Blockade of the LFCN with local anesthetics and steroid serves both the diagnostic and therapeutic role.
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Mar 2011
ReviewA review of the benefits and pitfalls of phantoms in ultrasound-guided regional anesthesia.
With the growth of ultrasound-guided regional anesthesia, so has the requirement for training tools to practice needle guidance skills and evaluate echogenic needles. Ethically, skills in ultrasound-guided needle placement should be gained in a phantom before performance of nerve blocks on patients in clinical practice. However, phantom technology is varied, and critical evaluation of the images is needed to understand their application to clinical use. ⋯ Fresh-frozen cadavers retain much of the textural feel of live human tissue and are nearly as echogenic. Similar to clinical practice, this makes needles inserted at steep angles practically invisible, unless they are highly echogenic. This review describes the uses and pitfalls of phantoms that have been described or commercially produced.