Regional anesthesia and pain medicine
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Nov 2020
CommentImages in anesthesiology: three safe, simple, and inexpensive methods to administer the sphenopalatine ganglion block.
The sphenopalatine ganglion (SPG) block is a simple and valuable technique that was discovered over a century ago, but, unfortunately, very few anesthesiology providers are familiar with this block. After some of our recent publications, physicians from different countries have reached out to us requesting more specifics on how we perform our version of the block. In this report, we provide a brief history of the block and demonstrate our three effective, simple, readily available, and inexpensive methodologies with images. We are proud to share that our three SPG block techniques have so far effectively relieved patients of chronic migraines, acute migraines, tension headaches, moderate-to-severe back pain, and post-dural puncture headaches.
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Nov 2020
Explant rates of electrical neuromodulation devices in 1177 patients in a single center over an 11-year period.
The publication of explant rates has established risk factors and a definitive objective outcome of failure for spinal cord stimulation (SCS) treating neuropathic pain. We present a UK study analyzing explants of electrical neuromodulation devices for different conditions over 11 years in a single center specializing in neuromodulation. ⋯ These data contribute to a growing list of explant data in the scientific literature and give indications of what factors contribute to long-term utilization of electrical neuromodulation devices.
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Nov 2020
Cadaveric study identifying clinical sonoanatomy for proximal and distal approaches of ultrasound-guided intercostobrachial nerve block.
The intercostobrachial nerve (ICBN) has significant anatomical variation. Localization of the ICBN requires an operator's skill. This cadaveric study aims to describe two simple ultrasound-guided plane blocks of the ICBN when it emerges at the chest wall (proximal approach) and passes through the axillary fossa (distal approach). ⋯ The proximal and distal ICBN blocks, using easily recognized sonoanatomical landmarks, provided consistent dye spread to the ICBN. We encourage further validation of these two techniques in clinical studies.