Regional anesthesia and pain medicine
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Jan 2008
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudyEffect of a continuous peripheral nerve block on the inflammatory response in knee arthroplasty.
Experimental nerve block in animals inhibits the inflammatory response. The purpose of this study was to determine to what extent a 48-hour local anesthetic block of all afferent and efferent nerve fibers of the knee area has an impact on postoperative inflammatory response. ⋯ Continuous lumbar plexus and sciatic nerve blocks with ropivacaine contribute to the attenuation of the postoperative inflammatory response.
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Jan 2008
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudyMedian effective local anesthetic doses of plain bupivacaine and ropivacaine for spinal anesthesia administered via a spinal catheter for brachytherapy of the lower abdomen.
Continuous spinal anesthesia via a spinal catheter allows adjusting the duration and extent of anesthesia to surgical needs, maintenance of hemodynamic stability, and good postoperative analgesia. This study was designed to determine the median effective local anesthetic dose of plain ropivacaine and bupivacaine administered intrathecally for interstitial brachytherapy of the lower abdomen using the Dixon up-and-down method. ⋯ Bupivacaine and ropivacaine are appropriate for continuous spinal anesthesia for interstitial radiation therapy procedures of the lower abdomen. In the dose-ranges investigated, intrathecal ropivacaine is approximately half as potent as bupivacaine.
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Major nerves and vessels run alongside each other in a "neurovascular bundle" kept together by connective tissue that is often referred to by anatomists, surgeons, and anesthesiologists as the "sheath." Our goal was to macroscopically demonstrate the brachial plexus sheath in embalmed and fresh cadaver dissections. ⋯ We observed a macroscopic fibrous structure surrounding the plexus, which was filled with loose connective tissue lacking any apparent organization.
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Jan 2008
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudyComparison of the hemodynamic effects of a single 5 mg/kg dose of lidocaine with or without epinephrine for thoracic paravertebral block.
Epinephrine is often added to local anesthetic solutions to minimize and slow the systemic absorption of local anesthetics, and thus reduce the possibility of adverse effects of these drugs. In an earlier study we found that the injection of 5 mg/kg of lidocaine via the paravertebral route depressed myocardial contractility by up to 30%, with practically no changes in heart rate or blood pressure. In the present study we investigated whether these alterations are due to systemic absorption of the local anesthetic, and whether such absorption can be minimized by adding epinephrine to the local anesthetic solution. ⋯ Addition of epinephrine to lidocaine when performing thoracic paravertebral block, attenuates the cardiodepressive effects associated with the systemic absorption of lidocaine and also, as a result of the beta-adrenergic consequences of epinephrine, systemic absorption from the paravertebral space.