Articles: nerve-block.
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Acta Anaesthesiol Scand · May 1987
Clinical Trial Controlled Clinical TrialPostoperative pain relief and bupivacaine plasma levels during continuous interscalene brachial plexus block.
Interscalene brachial plexus block was performed on 40 patients for prophylactic pain relief after shoulder surgery. A dose of 1.25 mg/kg of 0.5% bupivacaine was injected for the block (Group 1) and continued with an infusion of 0.25% bupivacaine 0.25 mg/kg/h (Group 2). If the postoperative analgesia was insufficient, the patients received i.m. oxycodone 0.15 mg/kg. ⋯ At 30 min, the mean bupivacaine plasma concentration was 1.0 microgram/ml in Group 1 and 0.9 microgram/ml in Group 2. The mean plasma level of bupivacaine increased from 0.7 microgram/ml after 180 min to 1.1 micrograms/ml (P less than 0.01) after 24 h of infusion, providing some evidence of accumulation during infusion. The dizziness and confusion experienced by three patients could be associated with the local anaesthetic, as they obtained relief after the infusion was stopped.
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A modified technique of intercostal nerve blockade is described which is suitable for use in children. Ten patients received intercostal nerve blockade on a total of 29 occasions in order to provide analgesia following liver transplantation and to facilitate weaning from artificial ventilation of the lungs. ⋯ The technique has proved to be safe in skilled hands. It is an acceptable method of postoperative analgesia in children after liver transplantation and may be a useful technique in the management of other paediatric patients.
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The use of a low-power nerve stimulator to aid nerve location during the performance of sciatic nerve block was compared with a conventional anatomically based technique. The success rate, both in terms of the production of an effective block and the duration of postoperative analgesia, was significantly higher in the stimulator groups than in the non-stimulator groups. The implications of the study for both clinical and teaching practice are discussed.
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Modern techniques available for the relief of pain following major surgical procedures or trauma in childhood receive scant attention in pediatric surgical textbooks. A range of options for pain relief have been offered to children in our hospital, which include: regional analgesia; appropriate use of intermittent intramuscular narcotic injections; and variable-rate intravenous narcotic infusions. Since 1982 regional analgesia has been used in more than 2,000 patients following operations on the penis and in the inguinoscrotal region. ⋯ Assessment of effective pain relief has been made on the basis of observation and comment by parents and patients and by medical and nursing staff. The steady increase in demand for the use of this technique is an index of its value. It is concluded that there is a real need to improve pain relief for children by better education of medical and nursing staff and inclusion of this important subject in pediatric surgical text books.