Exit Strategy
As I talk with ‘happily surprised’ patients post-operatively on rounds or on telephone calls, sometimes they transition to what appears to be fear and dread. It is when they go from how they feel now to what they will feel later when the peripheral nerve block catheter is pulled. Many patients go home with.. read more →
Block Evaluation
TAKE TIME TO LOOK BEFORE YOU LEAP Beyond visualizing a successful block on ultrasound, I usually will want to see an immediate effect of my local by asking the patient to raise their arm toward the ceiling (deltoids, C5 for an ISB) or extend their knee (for a femoral block). There are reasons why.. read more →
Safety
ANOTHER ARROW IN THE QUIVER I was happy to receive a round of texts this morning from a good friend of mine about a case that he had just performed. My friend, Dr Chip Criswell, has become quite proficient at performing ultrasound-guided nerve blocks, and I could brag about him and about other cases.. read more →
The ‘Right’ Way
WELL, THAT’S NEW TO ME… I have come in contact at more than one practice lately with an application for a block that I would not have thought reasonable before now. It is the use of a popliteal sciatic nerve block (as a single injection) for posterior knee pain for total knee arthroplasty. I.. read more →
Rescue Blocks
NERVE BLOCK TO THE ‘RESCUE’ You’ve prepared for a new block, you have an agreeable surgeon, and you have a great application for it with the very reasonably-sized patient in front of you in the holding area….but you’re not sure that the first (or one of your first) attempt will be ‘quick and slick’... read more →