Regional anesthesia and pain medicine
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Jan 2024
Continuous erector spinae plane block versus thoracic epidural analgesia in video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery: a prospective randomized open-label non-inferiority trial.
The evolving surgical techniques in thoracoscopic surgery necessitate the exploration of anesthesiological techniques. This study aimed to investigate whether incorporating a continuous erector spinae plane (ESP) block into a multimodal analgesia regimen is non-inferior to continuous thoracic epidural analgesia (TEA) in terms of quality of postoperative recovery for patients undergoing elective unilateral video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery. ⋯ The continuous ESP block is non-inferior to TEA in video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery.
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Jan 2024
Inhibition of the glutamatergic PVT-NAc projections attenuates local anesthetic-induced neurotoxic behaviors.
Local anesthetic-induced neurotoxicity contributes to perioperative nerve damage; however, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we investigated the role of the paraventricular thalamus (PVT)-nucleus accumbens (NAc) projections in neurotoxicity induced by ropivacaine, a local anesthetic agent. ⋯ These results reveal the presence of a dedicated PVT-NAc circuit that regulates local anesthetic-induced neurotoxicity and provide a potential mechanistic explanation for the treatment and prevention of LAST.
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Jan 2024
Danger, Danger, Gaston Labat! Does zero-shot artificial intelligence correlate with anticoagulation guidelines recommendations for neuraxial anesthesia?
Artificial intelligence and large language models (LLMs) have emerged as potentially disruptive technologies in healthcare. In this study GPT-3.5, an accessible LLM, was assessed for its accuracy and reliability in performing guideline-based evaluation of neuraxial bleeding risk in hypothetical patients on anticoagulation medication. The study also explored the impact of structured prompt guidance on the LLM's performance. ⋯ LLMs show potential for assisting in clinical decision making but rely on accurate and relevant prompts. Integration of LLMs should consider safety and privacy concerns. Further research is needed to optimize LLM performance and address complex scenarios. The tested LLM demonstrates potential in assessing neuraxial bleeding risk but relies on precise prompts. LLM integration should be approached cautiously, considering limitations. Future research should focus on optimization and understanding LLM capabilities and limitations in healthcare.
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Jan 2024
Neuraxial pathology and regional anesthesia: an education guide to decision-making.
In current clinical practice, spinal anesthesia and analgesia techniques-including epidural and subarachnoid procedures-are frequently executed without imaging like X-ray or epidurography. Unrecognized spinal pathology has resulted in serious morbidity in the context of performing neuraxial anesthesia. Typically, preoperative consultations incorporate a patient's medical history but lack a detailed spinal examination or consideration of recent MRI or CT scans. ⋯ Such collaborative settings rely on exhaustive clinical history and scrutinization of recent imaging studies, which may influence the decision to proceed with invasive spinal interventions. There are no epidemiological data concerning rates of the different baseline pathologies that would potentially pose morbidity risks from neuraxial procedures, but the most common among these is canal stenosis, which significantly affects almost 20% of people over 60 years of age. This paper aims to elucidate these critical findings and advocate for incorporating meticulous preoperative assessments for individuals slated for spinal anesthesia or analgesia procedures, thereby attempting to mitigate potential risks.
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Jan 2024
Randomized control trial of a holographic needle guidance technique for thoracic epidural placement.
The Microsoft HoloLens is a head-mounted mixed reality device, which allows for overlaying hologram-like computer-generated elements onto the real world. This technology can be combined with preprocedural ultrasound during thoracic epidural placement to create a visual of the ideal needle angulation and trajectory in the users' field of view. This could result in a technically easier and potentially safer alternative to traditional blind landmark techniques. ⋯ This study shows that thoracic epidural placement may be facilitated by using a guidance hologram and may be more technically efficient.