Regional anesthesia and pain medicine
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Aug 2020
ReviewClinical and economic strategies in outpatient medical care during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in significant clinical and economic consequences for medical practices of all specialties across the nation. Although the clinical implications are of the utmost importance, the economic consequences have also been serious and resulted in substantial damage to the US healthcare system, including pain practices. Outpatient pain practices have had to significantly change their clinical care pathways, including the incorporation of telemedicine. ⋯ This review article will provide insight into solutions to mitigate the clinical and economic challenges induced by COVID-19. Undoubtedly, the COVID-19 pandemic will have short-term and long-term implications for all medical practices and facilities. In order to survive, medical practices will need dynamic, operational, and creative strategic plans to mitigate the disruption in medical care and pathways for successful reintegration of clinical and surgical practice.
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Aug 2020
Randomized Controlled TrialUltrasonographic needle tip tracking for in-plane infraclavicular brachialis plexus blocks: a randomized controlled volunteer study.
Onvision is a new technology for needle tip detection and tracking in ultrasound-guided regional anesthesia. The system consists of a piezoelectric sensor close to the needle tip and an electronic console integrated in the ultrasound system. The needle tip is visualized by a green circle on the ultrasound screen. The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of the new needle tip tracking technology on in-plane infraclavicular plexus blocks. ⋯ Our study on needle tip tracking for infraclavicular blocks did not reveal any significant differences between active needle tip tracking and the control procedures, neither for primary outcome nor secondary outcome measurements.
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Aug 2020
Evaluating the extent of lumbar erector spinae plane block: an anatomical study.
The erector spinae plane (ESP) block is a relatively new interfascial block technique. Previous cadaveric studies have shown extensive cephalocaudal spread with a single ESP injection at the thoracic level. However, little data exist for lumbar ESP block. The objective of this study was to examine the anatomical spread of dye following an ultrasound-guided lumbar ESP block in a human cadaveric model. ⋯ A lumbar ESP injection has limited craniocaudal spread compared with injection in the thoracic region. It has consistent spread to dorsal rami, but no anterior spread to ventral rami or paravertebral space.
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Aug 2020
Observational StudySharing the pain: an observational analysis of Twitter and pain in Ireland.
Studies involving Twitter and chronic pain can provide highly valuable patient-generated information. The aim of this paper was to examine pain-related tweets in Ireland over a 2-week period from 22 June 2017 to 5 July 2017 using pain-related keywords. We wished to identify Twitter user gender profile; most common discussion topics; sentiment analysis; and dissemination of tweets. ⋯ A substantial discussion of pain-related topics took place on Twitter during our study period. This provided real-time, dynamic information from individuals on discussion topics in pain medicine. This can be used to gain a greater understanding of the pain experience. As patients are increasingly acquiring healthcare information through online sources, high-quality information from approved sources should be promoted on such platforms.
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Aug 2020
Anesthesia residency training in regional anesthesiology and acute pain medicine: a competency-based model curriculum.
The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education has shifted to competency-based medical education. This educational framework requires the description of educational outcomes based on the knowledge, skills and behaviors expected of competent trainees. ⋯ This article describes the development of model curricula for anesthesiology residency training in regional anesthesia and acute pain medicine (core and advanced) using a competency-based framework. We further describe how the curricula were distributed through a shared web-based platform and mobile application.