Regional anesthesia and pain medicine
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Jul 2020
ReviewReconfiguring the scope and practice of regional anesthesia in a pandemic: the COVID-19 perspective.
The COVID-19 outbreak is on the world. While many countries have imposed general lockdown, emergency services are continuing. Healthcare professionals have been infected with the virulent severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS), which spreads by close contact and aerosols. ⋯ The perioperative anesthetic implications of multisystem manifestations of COVID-19, anesthetic management options, the scope of RA and considerations for its safe conduct in operating rooms is described. An outline for safe and rapid training of healthcare personnel, with an Entrustable Professional Activity framework for ascertaining the practice readiness among trained residents for RA in COVID-19, is suggested. These are the authors' experiences gained from the current pandemic and similar SARS, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome and influenza outbreaks in recent past faced by our authors in Singapore, India, Hong Kong and Canada.
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Survey research, indispensable for assessing subjective outcomes in anesthesiology, can nonetheless be challenging to undertake and interpret. ⋯ Survey research is not uncommon in anesthesiology, frequently employs novel survey instruments, and demonstrates mixed results in terms of transparency and interpretability. We provide readers with a practical framework for critical interpretation of survey-derived outcomes.
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Jul 2020
Case ReportsNovel use of a continuous PECS II block for mastitis pain treatment.
Nipple trauma and mastitis (an inflammatory condition of the breast) are common causes of intense pain during breast feeding. Although such pain normally results in early weaning, which has negative impacts on both maternal and child health, little is understood about the treatment of pain experienced during breast feeding. Here, we describe our experience with a woman who presented at 26 days post partum with a 15-day history of deep nipple wounds that caused bilateral mastitis and excruciating pain that radiated dorsally. ⋯ We performed a bilateral pectoralis nerve block type II and inserted intrafascial catheters between the pectoralis minor and serratus muscles for continuous analgesia. Following block completion, the pain in her torso resolved immediately. The local anesthetic infusion continued for 40 hours and the patient had sustained analgesia with rapid healing of nipple lesions and her breast feeding commencing at 36 hours after block placement.