Regional anesthesia and pain medicine
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Mar 1998
Clinical TrialHigh-dose ropivacaine wound infiltration for pain relief after inguinal hernia repair: a clinical and pharmacokinetic evaluation.
Early data on ropivacaine, a recently introduced local anesthetic, indicate a longer duration of skin analgesia than with bupivacaine, along with lower toxicity. The objective of this study was to evaluate ropivacaine 7.5 mg/mL for wound infiltration pain relief after hernia surgery, in higher doses than used before, in an open, nonrandomized design. ⋯ Infiltration of ropivacaine 7.5 mg/mL during hernia surgery can be employed safely in doses of 300 mg and 375 mg to control pain after hernia surgery. The lower dose is recommended, since the higher one did not give any clinically relevant advantages.
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Mar 1998
Case ReportsPerisciatic injection of steroid for the treatment of sciatica due to piriformis syndrome.
Piriformis syndrome causing sciatica is sometimes refractory to conventional treatments including physical therapy, piriformis injections, and even caudal epidural steroid injections. Surgical release of the piriformis muscle has been described for difficult cases of piriformis syndrome, but is occasionally accompanied by morbidity. Another approach to treating piriformis syndrome is presented. ⋯ Patients with piriformis syndrome who were refractory to conventional treatments but responded to perisciatic injections of steroid are presented.
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Mar 1998
Comparative StudyPain evaluation in the intensive care unit: observer-reported faces scale compared with self-reported visual analog scale.
The visual analog scale (VAS) is a simple and sensitive mean of pain assessment. The faces scale is also a simple, self-reporting method for children. Facial signs of pain have not been used to assess pain in postoperative adult patients in the intensive care unit (ICU). ⋯ The faces scale may be useful for pain evaluation in the ICU.
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Mar 1998
Case ReportsAsymptomatic profound oxyhemoglobin desaturation following interscalene block in a geriatric patient.
Interscalene block can be chosen for complete anesthesia for shoulder surgery. Phrenic nerve block occurs with almost all interscalene blocks, but is well tolerated in most patients. This may not be the case in selected geriatric patients. ⋯ Ipsilateral phrenic nerve paralysis caused significant respiratory compromise in an elderly patient without known significant pulmonary disease.
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Mar 1998
Case ReportsInguinal paravascular (lumbar plexus) neurolytic block--description of a catheter technique: case report.
We provided care for a 47-year-old female with a history of lung carcinoma and bony metastases who sustained a pathologic fracture of the right acetabulum causing severe and uncontrolled pain in the right groin. Her pain was rated as 8-10 on a 10-point visual analog scale (VAS). Her terminal disease and poor surgical risk precluded therapeutic operative intervention. Consequently, a neurolytic block of the lumbar plexus was performed as a palliative measure. ⋯ This case report supports the feasibility of placing a catheter via a modified anterior inguinal paravascular block technique and its subsequent use for both local anesthetic infusion and neurolytic block of the lumbar plexus.