Local and regional anesthesia
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To provide a review of local anesthetic (LA) agents and adjuncts, opioids and muscle relaxants, and their intraoperative effects and postoperative outcomes in intravenous regional anesthesia (IVRA). ⋯ Ropivacaine is effective for IVRA and improves postoperative analgesia. Muscle relaxants enhance the motor block and when combined with fentanyl allow for an equivalent quality of IVRA with 50% reduction in LA dose.
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We compared the efficacy of combined posterior lumbar plexus-sciatic nerve block with that of combined femoral-obturator-sciatic nerve block as anesthesia for anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction surgery, because both block combinations have been recommended for lower limb arthroscopic and reconstructive surgery. ⋯ Combined posterior lumbar plexus-sciatic nerve block provided more comfortable intraoperative anesthesia and better postoperative analgesia than combined femoral-obturator-sciatic nerve block for anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction surgery.
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We report the peripartum management of a 30-year-old wheelchair-bound nullipara woman with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) type II, including severe restrictive lung disease and Harrington rods. At 38 weeks gestation, she was admitted for an induction of labor with neuraxial analgesia, but she subsequently had to be delivered via cesarean section under general anesthesia. We describe the anesthetic implications of SMA on labor and delivery management and review the available literature.
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Systemic sclerosis (SSc), previously known as progressive systemic sclerosis, is a form of scleroderma and a multisystem connective tissue disease which can impact on every aspect of anesthetic care, especially airway management. In this review we outline clinical manifestations and current medical treatment of the disease, and general principles of anesthetizing these patients. We focus on the role of regional anesthesia, including neuroaxial anesthesia, which may serve as a safe alternative to general anesthesia but can be technically challenging. We address concerns regarding abnormal responses to local anesthesia which have previously been reported in patients with SSc, and explore future developments in technology and pharmacology, which may enable regional anesthesia to be performed more successfully and with fewer complications.
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Case Reports
Severe cast burn after bunionectomy in a patient who received peripheral nerve blocks for postoperative analgesia.
Although regional anesthesia offers advantages for intraoperative and postoperative pain relief, it is not possible without complications. A case of a significant burn injury after splint placement is described after a peripheral nerve block was performed for postoperative pain management. It is our hope that this case alerts physicians and others involved in the management of postoperative patients to the challenges of managing a blocked extremity after thermal cast placement and offers solutions that can be standardized.