Regional anesthesia and pain medicine
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Sep 2014
Development of an Ultrasound Phantom for Spinal Injections With 3-Dimensional Printing.
This report describes a method for producing anatomically detailed, low-cost ultrasound phantoms of the spine with 3-dimensional printing. An implementation that involves representing a portion of the lumbar spine and the ligamentum flavum with 2 different printing materials and the surrounding soft tissues with agar gel is presented. ⋯ Ultrasound phantoms that are derived directly from patient anatomy have strong potential as learning tools for ultrasound-guided spinal insertions, and they could be used as preprocedural planning tools in cases involving pathologies, implants, or abnormal anatomies. Three-dimensional printing is a promising method for producing low-cost phantoms with designs that can be readily shared across clinical institutions.
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Sep 2014
Case ReportsFentanyl Overdose Caused by Malfunction of SynchroMed II Intrathecal Pump: Two Case Reports.
Intrathecal drug delivery systems (intrathecal pumps) are used to treat patients with chronic refractory pain syndromes and spasticity. The objective of our case report was to demonstrate that intrathecal pump malfunction can lead to intrathecal overdosing of drugs. ⋯ We present 2 cases of intrathecal pump malfunction, which most likely led to overinfusion of fentanyl intrathecally. To reduce the risk of this complication, particular attention should be paid to drug reservoir volume discrepancies and overdose symptoms reported by patients.