Regional anesthesia and pain medicine
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Aug 2021
Making a business plan for starting a transitional pain service within the US healthcare system.
Chronic pain imposes a tremendous economic burden of up to US$635 billion per year in terms of direct costs (such as the costs of treatment) and indirect costs (such as lost productivity and time away from work). In addition, the initiation of opioids for pain is associated with a more than doubling of pharmacy and all-cause medical costs. The high costs of chronic pain are particularly relevant for anesthesiologists because surgery represents an inciting event that can lead to chronic pain and long-term opioid use. ⋯ Despite awareness of chronic pain after surgery and the ongoing opioid epidemic, there are few examples of successful transitional pain service implementation in the USA. Key issues and concerns include financial incentives and the required investment from the hospital or healthcare system. We present an economic analysis and discussion of important considerations when developing a business plan for a transitional pain service.
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Aug 2021
Randomized Controlled TrialObturator nerve block does not provide analgesic benefits in total hip arthroplasty under multimodal analgesic regimen: a randomized controlled trial.
Although regional analgesia is considered an important component of optimal pain management, use of peripheral nerve blocks for total hip arthroplasty remains controversial. Since the obturator nerve innervates the anteromedial part of the joint capsule, we hypothesized that an obturator nerve block would decrease the opioid consumption after total hip arthroplasty. ⋯ Obturator nerve block did not improve postoperative opioid consumption after total hip arthroplasty performed under general anesthesia with a multimodal analgesic regimen.
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Aug 2021
Randomized Controlled TrialComparison of Touhy and Quincke needles on intravascular injection rate in lumbar transforaminal epidural block: a randomized prospective trial.
Transforaminal epidural steroid injection is widely used in clinical practice to effectively deliver injectate into the ventral epidural space. Complications associated with intravascular injection such as spinal cord infarction and paraplegia can occur during transforaminal epidural steroid injection. To improve the safety of the procedure, avoidance of intravascular injection is crucial, for which appropriate needle selection is important. The primary aim of this study was to compare intravascular injection rates during transforaminal epidural steroid injection between commonly used Quincke and Tuohy needles. ⋯ In conclusion, Tuohy needles had a lower intravascular injection rate and higher medial and ventral epidural spreading rates than Quincke needles.