British Journal of Anaesthesia, 2002, Vol. 88, No. 5 621-624
© 2002 The Board of Management and Trustees of the British Journal of Anaesthesia
Editorial |
Editorial I
Ultrasound-guided nerve blocks
1 University Department of Anaesthesia, Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, Dundee, Tayside DD1 9SY, UK 2 Department of Anaesthesia, Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, Dundee, Tayside DD1 9SY, UK 3 Clinical Radiology, Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, Dundee, Tayside DD1 9SY, UK
The ideal in the practice of regional anaesthesia would be the ability to deliver precisely to the target nerve exactly the right dose of local anaesthetic without incurring any risk of damage to the nerve or its related structures. Currently, we aim to achieve this by using needles and catheters, guided mostly by knowledge of anatomy supplemented by electrical nerve stimulation or the elicitation of paraesthesiae. Knowledge of anatomy takes the needle to the general area of the nerve and helps avoid other structures. The specific nerve location technique allows a close approach, hopefully without the risk of nerve damage. Unfortunately, this is essentially a blind process, but modern imaging techniques might be used to overcome this. Ultrasound-aided nerve blocks have been reported in the anaesthetic literature since 1978, with an increase in interest from the mid-1990s, probably as a result of improvements in ultrasound equipment. One such study appears
Should anaesthetists use ultrasound to guide needle insertion in nerve blockade?
Could any anaesthetist, with minimal training, use ultrasound to visualize the needle during a nerve block?
Is the combination of ultrasound and nerve stimulation the ‘dream ticket’ for those who practise regional anaesthesia?
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