Anaesthesia and intensive care
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Anaesth Intensive Care · Aug 2007
The shoulder block: a new alternative to interscalene brachial plexus blockade for the control of postoperative shoulder pain.
This report describes the development of the shoulder block, an alternative to interscalene brachial plexus blockade for the control of postoperative pain following shoulder surgery. Included is a review of the relevant anatomy of the shoulder joint and its associated structures. ⋯ The technique of Meier is used to block the suprascapular nerve in the supraspinous fossa. No descriptions of axillary nerve block were available in the literature, so a technique for blocking this nerve as it travels across the posterior surface of the humerus was developed and is described, along with a discussion of the author's initial clinical experience.