Regional anesthesia and pain medicine
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Jul 2013
Randomized Controlled TrialAdjuvant dexamethasone for bupivacaine sciatic and ankle blocks: results from 2 randomized placebo-controlled trials.
Perineural dexamethasone may improve post-op analgesia for sciatic blocks but not for ankle blocks when compared with systemic dexamethasone.
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Jul 2013
Comparative StudyNovice learner in-plane ultrasound imaging: which visualization technique?
Needle guidance under ultrasound is an acquired skill requiring fine motor control. Maintaining the image of an advancing needle in the plane of an ultrasound beam may be performed with the probe and needle orientated along the visual axis (AL) or across the visual axis (AC). This study was undertaken to determine if orientation affected task performance. ⋯ Advancing the needle along the visual axis was associated with improved task completion speed and quality of needle imaging. This ergonomic pattern, therefore, may be the more appropriate choice for novices learning ultrasound-guided in-plane needle imaging.
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Jul 2013
Multicenter Study Comparative StudyUltrasound guidance reduces the risk of local anesthetic systemic toxicity following peripheral nerve blockade.
The use of ultrasound for peripheral nerve blockade reduces the incidence of systemic local anesthetic toxicity by at least 65%, possibly 80%.
pearl