Regional anesthesia and pain medicine
-
Reg Anesth Pain Med · Aug 2020
ReviewAdjuncts to local anesthetic wound infiltration for postoperative analgesia: a systematic review.
Local anesthetics (LAs) are commonly infiltrated into surgical wounds for postsurgical analgesia. While many adjuncts to LA agents have been studied, it is unclear which adjuncts are most effective for co-infiltration to improve and prolong analgesia. We performed a systematic review on adjuncts (excluding epinephrine) to local infiltrative anesthesia to determine their analgesic efficacy and opioid-sparing properties. ⋯ Our findings suggest benefits of several adjuncts to local infiltrative anesthesia for postoperative analgesia. Further well-powered RCTs are needed to compare various infiltration regimens and agents. PROTOCOL REGISTRATION: PROSPERO (CRD42018103851) (https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=103851).
-
Reg Anesth Pain Med · Aug 2020
Randomized Controlled TrialUltrasonographic needle tip tracking for in-plane infraclavicular brachialis plexus blocks: a randomized controlled volunteer study.
Onvision is a new technology for needle tip detection and tracking in ultrasound-guided regional anesthesia. The system consists of a piezoelectric sensor close to the needle tip and an electronic console integrated in the ultrasound system. The needle tip is visualized by a green circle on the ultrasound screen. The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of the new needle tip tracking technology on in-plane infraclavicular plexus blocks. ⋯ Our study on needle tip tracking for infraclavicular blocks did not reveal any significant differences between active needle tip tracking and the control procedures, neither for primary outcome nor secondary outcome measurements.
-
Reg Anesth Pain Med · Aug 2020
Observational StudySharing the pain: an observational analysis of Twitter and pain in Ireland.
Studies involving Twitter and chronic pain can provide highly valuable patient-generated information. The aim of this paper was to examine pain-related tweets in Ireland over a 2-week period from 22 June 2017 to 5 July 2017 using pain-related keywords. We wished to identify Twitter user gender profile; most common discussion topics; sentiment analysis; and dissemination of tweets. ⋯ A substantial discussion of pain-related topics took place on Twitter during our study period. This provided real-time, dynamic information from individuals on discussion topics in pain medicine. This can be used to gain a greater understanding of the pain experience. As patients are increasingly acquiring healthcare information through online sources, high-quality information from approved sources should be promoted on such platforms.
-
Reg Anesth Pain Med · Aug 2020
Case ReportsLocal anesthetic resistance in a Crohn's patient undergoing cesarean delivery.
Patient resistance to local anesthetics is rarely considered as the cause of regional anesthesia failure. ⋯ Resistance to local anesthetics may be more common than we think, especially among patients with chronic pain. Providers should consider local anesthetic resistance when regional anesthesia is unsuccessful. Further research is needed to determine if skin wheal tests and/or a different local anesthetic could improve results.