Regional anesthesia and pain medicine
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Mar 2024
Crystallization of mixtures of local anesthetics with and without select adjuvants: a semiquantitative light microscopy analysis.
Injecting mixtures of local anesthetics with or without adjuvants is a common practise in regional and particularly obstetric anesthesia to decrease block onset time and/or augment epidural analgesia for cesarean section. While evidence on the efficacy of this practise is equivocal, little is known about its safety in terms of the pharmacologic compatibility of local anesthetics. ⋯ The preparation of local anesthetic (±adjuvant) mixtures leads to high grades of crystallization, which increase over 60 min and appear independent of solution pH. The risk of mixing medications with unknown physical or chemical compatibility profiles in regional anesthesia should be critically appraised and its clinical significance elucidated in future translational research.
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Mar 2024
Neurostimulation in the patient with chronic pain: forecasting the future with data from the present - data-driven analysis or just dreams?
Chronic pain involves a structured and individualized development of neurophysiological and biological responses. The final expression in each patient correlates with diverse expressions of mediators and activations of different transmission and modulation pathways, as well as alterations in the structure and function of the brain, all of which develop according to the pain phenotype. Still today, the selection process for the ideal candidate for spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is based on results from test and functional variables analysis as well as pain evaluation. ⋯ Structural and functional quantitative information provided by imaging biomarkers will allow establishing a clinical decision support system that improve the effectiveness of the SCS implantation, optimizing human, economic and psychological resources. A correct programming of the neurostimulator, as well as other factors associated with the choice of leads and their position in the epidural space, are the critical factors for the effectiveness of the therapy. Using a model of SCS based on mathematical methods and computational simulation, the effect of different factors of influence on clinical practice studied, as several configurations of electrodes, position of these, and programming of polarities, in order to draw conclusions of clinical utility in neuroestimulation therapy.
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Mar 2024
ReviewLocal anesthetic dosing and toxicity of adult truncal catheters: a narrative review of published practice.
Anesthesiologists frequently use truncal catheters for postoperative pain control but with limited characterization of dosing and toxicity. ⋯ Practitioners frequently administer ropivacaine and bupivacaine above the package insert limits, at doses associated with toxicity. Patient safety would benefit from more specific recommendations to limit excessive dose and risk of toxicity.
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Mar 2024
Randomized Controlled TrialReal-time ultrasound guidance versus fluoroscopic guidance in thoracic epidural catheter placement: a single-center, non-inferiority, randomized, active-controlled trial.
Fluoroscopy can improve the success rate of thoracic epidural catheter placement (TECP). Real-time ultrasound (US)-guided TECP was recently introduced and showed a high first-pass success rate. We tested whether real-time US-guided TECP results in a non-inferior first-pass success rate compared with that of fluoroscopy-guided TECP. ⋯ Real-time US guidance provided a non-inferior success rate and shorter time spent on preparation and procedure compared with fluoroscopic guidance in TECP.
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Mar 2024
Intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring and spinal cord stimulator implantation.
Spinal cord injury (SCI) is one of the most dreaded complications after spinal cord stimulation (SCS) implantation surgery. As a result, intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring (IONM) has been proposed to avoid accidental damage to nervous structures under anesthesia and confirm positioning for optimal stimulation. Our study uses a large administrative claims database to determine the 30-day risk of SCI after SCS implantation. ⋯ Increased SCI risk among patients with IONM likely reflects higher baseline risk, and further research is needed for risk mitigation.