Anesthesiology
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Preoperative Ultrasound-Guided Percutaneous Cryoneurolysis for the Treatment of Pain following Mastectomy: A Randomized, Participant- and Observer-Masked, Sham-Controlled Study.
Ultrasound-guided percutaneous cryoneurolysis is an analgesic technique in which a percutaneous probe is used to reversibly ablate a peripheral nerve(s) using exceptionally low temperature, and has yet to be evaluated with randomized, controlled trials. Pain after mastectomy can be difficult to treat, and the authors hypothesized that the severity of surgically related pain would be lower on postoperative day 2 with the addition of cryoanalgesia compared with patients receiving solely standard-of-care treatment. ⋯ Percutaneous cryoneurolysis markedly improved analgesia without systemic side effects or complications after mastectomy.