Articles: nerve-block.
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Regional-Anaesthesie · Nov 1990
[The blood level and a pharmacokinetic model of prilocaine during a continuous brachial plexus blockade].
Continuous brachial plexus blockade achieved by repeated injections through an axillary catheter is used increasingly often for microsurgical procedures and for postoperative pain relief. Repetitive administration, especially of long-acting agents, can cause problems with local anesthetic toxicity. Based upon a pharmacokinetic analysis of prilocaine serum concentrations after single-dose axillary plexus blockade in 14 patients, a pharmacokinetic model was established from which to predict serum concentrations after successive doses. ⋯ Methemoglobinemia resulting from metabolites of prilocaine did not lead to complications in our study. It may, however, be a problem with repetitive dosages. Further investigations concerning this question would be useful.
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Comparative Study
Incidence of lingual nerve trauma and postinjection complications in conventional mandibular block anesthesia.
Trauma to the lingual nerve is potential risk factor for patients receiving mandibular block anesthesia. This paper describes the results of a patient survey of 9,587 conventional mandibular blocks received by 2,289 adults. The incidence of lingual nerve trauma and postinjection complications is reported along with an associated analysis of the duration of complications, procedures at the time of incident, the side of occurrence (right or left), and gender ratios. In addition, recommendations for patient evaluation, treatment, and follow-up care are discussed.
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Fracture of the scapular is uncommon but painful. A case is described in which a comminuted scapular fracture was treated with a continuous suprascapular nerve block. With the patient lying supine an epidural needle was directed towards the scapular notch via a superior approach and an epidural catheter was placed when the notch was believed to have been identified. ⋯ Injection of 10 ml radio-opaque dye demonstrated the catheter to be lateral to the scapular notch. However, dye dispersed throughout the supraspinous fossa including the scapular notch thus blocking the suprascapular nerve. This case demonstrates that continuous suprascapular nerve block can be performed for five days and that location of the scapular notch is less important than previously thought.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Use of post-tetanic count in assessment of a repetitive vecuronium-induced neuromuscular block.
In order to evaluate the use of the post-tetanic count (PTC) method during repetitive administration of vecuronium, we studied 20 patients allocated randomly to one of two groups: 10 patients received droperidol-fentanyl anaesthesia (control group); 10 other patients were given droperidol-fentanyl anaesthesia modified subsequently by addition of 0.5% isoflurane (isoflurane group). Before tracheal intubation, a bolus dose of vecuronium 0.08 mg kg-1 was given i.v. followed by repeated doses of 0.03 mg kg-1. The twitch response of adductor pollicis was recorded after supramaximal stimulation of the ulnar nerve at the wrist using a Myograph 2000 neuromuscular transmission analyser. ⋯ In the isoflurane group, the relationship between PTC and time to first reaction to TOF stimulation remained unchanged after addition of isoflurane. However, isoflurane caused a significant prolongation of the duration of intense block and a corresponding lower PTC in all patients. We conclude that PTC is a reliable method to evaluate intense neuromuscular block caused by vecuronium, even after repetitive administration of the drug and in combination with 0.5% isoflurane.