Regional anesthesia and pain medicine
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Workplace violence is any physical assault, threatening behavior or other verbal abuse directed toward persons at work or in the workplace. The incidence of workplace violence in healthcare settings in general and more specifically the pain clinic is thought to be underestimated due to hesitancy to report, lack of support from management and healthcare systems, and lack of institutional policies as it relates to violence from patients against healthcare workers. In the following article, we explore risk factors that place clinicians at risk of workplace violence, the cost and impact of workplace violence, how to build a violence prevention program and lastly how to recover from violence in the practice setting.
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Aug 2023
Modified thoracoabdominal nerve block through perichondrial approach (M-TAPA): an anatomical study to evaluate the spread of dye after a simulated injection in soft embalmed Thiel cadavers.
There is still no consensus on the analgesic range and mechanisms of action of modified thoracoabdominal nerve block through perichondrial approach (M-TAPA). This cadaveric study aimed to determine the spread of an injectate following simulated M-TAPA. ⋯ Our findings suggest that M-TAPA most likely involves the T9, T10 and T11 segmental nerves and that the local anesthetic may not spread to the intercostal space in the thoracic cage in M-TAPA. Further studies are required to confirm the precise mechanism of action and efficacy of M-TAPA in a large sample of human participants.
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Aug 2023
Needs-based novel digital curriculum for the neuromodulation training deficit: Pain Rounds.
This study reports the needs-based development, effectiveness and feasibility of a novel, comprehensive spinal cord stimulation (SCS) digital curriculum designed for pain medicine trainees. The curriculum aims to address the documented systematic variability in SCS education and empower physicians with SCS expertise, which has been linked to utilization patterns and patient outcomes. Following a needs assessment, the authors developed a three-part SCS e-learning video curriculum with baseline and postcourse knowledge tests. ⋯ Self-reported prior SCS experience had low to moderate positive correlations with Part I and Part III pretest scores (r=0.25, p=0.006; r=0.37, p<0.001, respectively). Initial evidence suggests that Pain Rounds provides an innovative and effective solution to the SCS curriculum deficit. A future controlled study should examine this digital curriculum's long-term impact on SCS practice and treatment outcomes.
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Aug 2023
Serum concentrations of local anesthetics after unilateral interpectoral-pectoserratus plane block in breast cancer surgery: a pharmacokinetic study.
The ultrasound-guided interpectoral-pectoserratus plane block is a fascial plane block for superficial surgery of the anterolateral chest wall. This technique involves injecting a relatively large volume of local anesthetics (typically 30 mL of 0.25%-0.50%, ie, 75-150 mg ropivacaine) underneath the major and minor pectoral muscles of the anterior thoracic wall. There is a potential risk of toxic serum concentrations of local anesthetics due to systemic absorption. ⋯ This pharmacokinetic study demonstrated that a 2.5 mg/kg ropivacaine interpectoral-pectoserratus plane block may result in exceeding the threshold for local anesthetic systemic toxicity.