A&A practice
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Case Reports
A Novel Approach to Postoperative Ear Pain-Greater Auricular Nerve Block Catheter: A Case Report.
A 70-year-old man presented for repair of an ear avulsion injury sustained from an all-terrain vehicle accident. A continuous technique using a catheter for a greater auricular nerve (GAN) block was performed in the preoperative area followed by general anesthesia in the operating room. ⋯ The GAN catheter was kept in place for 3 days with near-complete pain relief per the patient. To our knowledge, there are no case reports that describe a continuous GAN technique for surgery and postoperative pain.
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Spontaneous intracranial hypotension (SIH) has been increasingly characterized in recent years. A definitive diagnostic algorithm remains controversial because several symptoms are often found to be nonspecific. ⋯ Our case shows how greater occipital nerve block (GONB) can expedite SIH diagnosis in a man with atypical presentation by reducing the sensory input from the posterior cranial fossa. The relief provided by GONB allowed to diagnose SIH promptly and the patient underwent a curative EBP.
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Spinal anesthesia is administered for select procedures in the pediatric population and offers a safe alternative to general anesthesia. In this case series, we report loss of corneal and eyelash reflexes in 4 children who underwent spinal anesthesia for lower abdominal procedures. While initially thought to be the result of higher-than-intended spinal anesthesia, the observation that gentle stimulation produced vigorous phonation, orbicularis oculi constriction, and upper extremity movement suggests an alternative mechanism. This finding highlights a potential gap in knowledge related to the effect spinal anesthesia has on brain dynamics in children.
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A 72-year-old man with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) undergoing transurethral resection of a bladder tumor experienced severe and prolonged hypotension after receiving oral 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA). Continuous infusions of norepinephrine and vasopressin ultimately resolved the hypotension over the course of 26 hours. It is uncertain whether 5-ALA is causative or is a contributing factor that influences other factors, such as hypovolemia after hemodialysis and autonomic nerve dysfunction associated with ESRD. Our findings suggest that anesthesiologists should be aware of the possible occurrence of hypotension after administration of 5-ALA, and urologists should consider intravesical 5-ALA administration in patients with ESRD.