Pediatric emergency medicine practice
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Pediatr Emerg Med Pract · Oct 2013
Review Case ReportsPediatric nerve blocks: an evidence-based approach.
Successful injury management is often dependent upon optimal pain control. Many injuries do not require procedural sedation or systemic analgesia, and emergency clinicians have used peripheral nerve blocks for several decades for these injuries. ⋯ Peripheral nerve blocks have a high rate of success for effective local anesthesia and a low rate of complications, making them an attractive option for analgesia in the management of some injuries. This evidence-based review summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of peripheral nerve blocks, reviews commonly used local anesthetics, describes the landmark technique for the most common nerve blocks used in pediatric emergency medicine, and presents literature on ultrasound-guided technology.