Articles: nerve-block.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
[Methemoglobinemia due to prilocaine after plexus anesthesia. Reduction by prophylactic administration of ascorbic acid?].
This study investigated in vivo and in vitro kinetics of o-toluidine-induced methemoglobinemia and the influence of ascorbic acid on resulting methemoglobin concentrations. o-Toluidine is a metabolite of prilocaline and ascorbic acid is recommended for treatment of methemoglobinemia as an alternative to methylene blue. ⋯ In vitro high concentrations of ascorbic acid are able to reduce the resulting methemoglobin concentration 360 min after addition of 50 micrograms/ml o-toluidine. The application of 2,000 mg ascorbic acid i.v. before plexus anesthesia with prilocaine does not reduce the concentration of methemoglobin.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Nov 2003
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialUltrasound guidance speeds execution and improves the quality of supraclavicular block.
In this prospective study, we assessed the quality, safety, and execution time of supraclavicular block of the brachial plexus using ultrasonic guidance and neurostimulation compared with a supraclavicular technique that used anatomical landmarks and neurostimulation. It was hypothesized that ultrasonic guidance would increase the proportion of successful blocks, decrease block execution time, and reduce the incidence of complications such as pneumothorax and neuropathy. Eighty patients were randomized into two groups of 40, Group US (supraclavicular block guided in real time by a two-dimensional ultrasonic image, with neurostimulator confirmation of correct needle position) and Group NS (supraclavicular block using the subclavian perivascular approach, also with neurostimulator confirmation). Blocks were performed using bupivacaine 0.5% and lidocaine 2% (1:1 vol) with epinephrine 1:200000 as the anesthetic mixture. The onset of motor and sensory block for the musculocutaneous, median, radial, and ulnar nerves was evaluated over a 30 min period. At 30 min 95% of patients in Group US and 85% of patients in Group NS had a partial or complete sensory block of all nerve territories (P = 0.13) and 55% of patients in Group US and 65% of patients in Group NS had a complete block of all nerve territories (P = 0.25). Surgical anesthesia without supplementation was achieved in 85% of patients in Group US and 78% of patients in Group NS (P = 0.28). No patient in Group US and 8% of patients in Group NS required general anesthesia (P = 0.12). The quality of ulnar block was significantly inferior to the quality of block in other nerve territories in Group NS, but not in Group US; the quality of ulnar block was not significantly different between Groups NS and US. The block was performed in an average of 9.8 min in Group NS and 5.0 min in Group US (P = 0.0001). No major complication occurred in either group. We conclude that ultrasound-guided neurostimulator-confirmed supraclavicular block is more rapidly performed and provides a more complete block than supraclavicular block using anatomic landmarks and neurostimulator confirmation. ⋯ Ultrasound-guided neurostimulator-confirmed supraclavicular block is more rapidly performed and provides a block of better quality than supraclavicular block using anatomic landmarks and neurostimulator confirmation.
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Complications of ophthalmologic nerve blocks are rare, but they can have serious life- and sight-threatening consequences. Knowledge of the potential complications is essential for the anesthesiologist who performs ophthalmologic nerve blocks. However, most anesthesiologists are unfamiliar with these complications because the majority have been reported in the ophthalmology literature. We review the complications that may occur during the placement of ophthalmologic blocks and their appropriate prompt treatment.