Regional anesthesia and pain medicine
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Jul 2016
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudyEpidural Versus Paravertebral Nerve Block for Postoperative Analgesia in Patients Undergoing Open Liver Resection: A Randomized Clinical Trial.
Although many studies have found no difference between thoracic epidural block and unilateral thoracic paravertebral block after thoracotomy, no previous studies have compared epidural block with bilateral thoracic paravertebral block (bTPVB) in patients undergoing open liver resection. We aimed to investigate whether there was a significant analgesic advantage of thoracic epidural over bTPVB after liver resection. ⋯ This study suggests that there is a modest analgesic advantage of thoracic epidural over bTPVBs for patients after open liver resection.
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Jul 2016
Comparative Study Observational StudyThe Role of Spectral Tissue Sensing During Lumbar Transforaminal Epidural Injection.
Spectral tissue sensing (STS) exploits the scattering and absorption of light by tissue. The main objective of the present study was to determine whether STS can discriminate between correct and incorrect placement of the needle tip during lumbar transforaminal epidural injection. This was a single-blind prospective observational study in 30 patients with lumbar radicular pain scheduled for lumbar transforaminal epidural injection. ⋯ Spectral tissue sensing data contained the full spectra. The lipid and hemoglobin content at the different measurement points was also calculated, and partial least-squares discriminant analysis was used to estimate the sensitivity and specificity of STS. Spectral tissue sensing identified correct needle placement with a sensitivity of 57% and a specificity of 82%, and intraforaminal versus extraforaminal locations were identified with a sensitivity of 80% and a specificity of 71%.