Regional anesthesia and pain medicine
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Aug 2018
Real-Time Ultrasound-Assisted Thoracic Epidural Placement: A Feasibility Study of a Novel Technique.
The placement of thoracic epidural catheters is complicated by the layering of the vertebral lamina. Therefore, traditional blind palpation techniques require insertion of an epidural needle with likely contact of lamina with redirections into the epidural space. ⋯ Successful epidural placement was achieved in every patient. All catheters were found to be effective for use in the postoperative phase.
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Aug 2018
Ultrasound Assessment of Ice-Ball Formation by Cryoneurolysis Device in an Ex Vivo Model.
Real-time ice-ball formation during cryoneurolysis has sparsely been assessed with ultrasound (US). Cryoneurolysis in lower back pain syndrome represents a validated management option in cases of facet joint syndrome. Ultrasound may be a useful tool to perform facet joint cryodenervation. The objective of this study was to assess, ex vivo, the ability of US to assess the ice-ball formation of a cryoneurolysis device. ⋯ Ultrasound is a useful tool to monitor the formation of ice ball during a cryoneurolysis freezing cycle. Power Doppler appears as the only option to monitor the ice ball with low-frequency transducers. This novel finding may be useful in cases of lumbar medial branch cryoneurolysis, an application we plan to assess in a future pilot prospective study.