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Ultrasound in regional anaesthesia
Author(s) -
Griffin J.,
Nicholls B.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
anaesthesia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.839
H-Index - 117
eISSN - 1365-2044
pISSN - 0003-2409
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2044.2009.06200.x
Subject(s) - medicine , regional anaesthesia , general anaesthesia , anesthesia , ultrasound , regional anesthesia , neuraxial blockade , radiology , spinal anesthesia
Summary Ultrasound guidance is rapidly becoming the gold standard for regional anaesthesia. There is an ever growing weight of evidence, matched with improving technology, to show that the use of ultrasound has significant benefits over conventional techniques, such as nerve stimulation and loss of resistance. The improved safety and efficacy that ultrasound brings to regional anaesthesia will help promote its use and realise the benefits that regional anaesthesia has over general anaesthesia, such as decreased morbidity and mortality, superior postoperative analgesia, cost‐effectiveness, decreased postoperative complications and an improved postoperative course. In this review we consider the evidence behind the improved safety and efficacy of ultrasound‐guided regional anaesthesia, before discussing its use in pain medicine, paediatrics and in the facilitation of neuraxial blockade. The Achilles’ heel of ultrasound‐guided regional anaesthesia is that anaesthetists are far more familiar with providing general anaesthesia, which in most cases requires skills that are achieved faster and more reliably. To this ends we go on to provide practical advice on ultrasound‐guided techniques and the introduction of ultrasound into a department.