Regional anesthesia
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Regional anesthesia · Jul 1996
Review Case ReportsLabor analgesia and anesthesia in a patient with spinal muscular atrophy and vocal cord paralysis. A rare and unusual case report.
A case of labor analgesia and anesthesia in a 23-year-old woman with spinal muscular atrophy and vocal cord paralysis is reported. As spinal muscular atrophy is a progressive degenerative disorder of spinal anterior horn cells, with generalized neuromuscular weakness as a common sequela, the goal of anesthetic management is to provide satisfactory labor analgesia and anesthesia with minimal compromise of respiratory function. ⋯ It is believed that labor analgesia and anesthesia can be provided adequately with lumbar epidural techniques. An understanding of the physiology underlying spinal muscular atrophy is essential to safe anesthetic management of the laboring parturient.
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Warnings about the hazards of epidural steroid injections occasionally appear in both medical and lay literature despite a lack of objective data to support such concerns. This literature review was undertaken to survey reports of adverse reactions associated with that procedure. ⋯ There are few published reports of serious complications following epidural steroid injections. There are a few published reports of complications following subarachnoid steroid injections, most of which were associated with multiple injections over a prolonged time period.
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Regional anesthesia · May 1995
ReviewDoes sympathetic ganglionic block prevent postherpetic neuralgia? Literature review.
To examine specifically the role of sympathetic block in the prevention of postherpetic neuralgia by its application in the treatment of acute herpes zoster. ⋯ Considering the degree of uncertainty, and the seriousness of postherpetic neuralgia, sympathetic block in addition to treatment with acyclovir should be considered early during acute herpes zoster. Large controlled trials are needed to provide the necessary scientific evidence.