Regional anesthesia and pain medicine
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Jan 2015
Randomized Controlled TrialPectoral Nerves I and II Blocks in Multimodal Analgesia for Breast Cancer Surgery: A Randomized Clinical Trial.
The pectoral nerves (Pecs) block types I and II are novel techniques to block the pectoral, intercostobrachial, third to sixth intercostals, and the long thoracic nerves. They may provide good analgesia during and after breast surgery. Our study aimed to compare prospectively the quality of analgesia after modified radical mastectomy surgery using general anesthesia and Pecs blocks versus general anesthesia alone. ⋯ The combined Pecs I and II block is a simple, easy-to-learn technique that produces good analgesia for radical breast surgery.
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Jan 2015
Retrospective Study of Epidural Blood Patch Use for Spontaneous Intracranial Hypotension.
Spontaneous intracranial hypotension (SIH) is characterized by a severe and disabling headache that is usually orthostatic in nature. Cisternography is a useful diagnostic test for evaluating the presence and location of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leakage, and a targeted epidural blood patch (EBP) based on the cisternography findings is a very effective treatment modality for SIH. However, the effects of EBPs are not predictable, making repeat EBPs essential in some cases. The aim of the present study was to find the relationship between the EBP response and cisternographic findings, hypothesizing that the number of required EBPs would increase with an increased number of CSF leakage levels as determined by radionuclide cisternography. ⋯ Our study suggests that the response to the EBP is related to the severity of symptoms but not to the number and locations of cisternographic CSF leakages.
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Jan 2015
The Effect of Clinically Therapeutic Plasma Concentrations of Lidocaine on Natural Killer Cell Cytotoxicity.
Natural killer (NK) cells can induce death in cancer cells. Previous studies suggest that lidocaine may decrease the function of NK cells. However, it is unknown whether lower concentrations of lidocaine, usually found in patients managed with continuous infusions, also impair the function of NK cells. We hypothesized that lidocaine at low concentrations preserves the function of NK cells. ⋯ Our findings suggest that clinically relevant concentrations of lidocaine enhance the in vitro function of NK cells via the release of lytic granules.