Introduction The pericapsular nerve group (PENG) block is a novel regional technique indicated for analgesia for hip joint pain. We administered PENG blocks and performed catheter insertion for continuous infusions in patients with femur fractures on hospital admission. In this case series, we describe our initial experience of pain management in 10 patients with continuous infusion and its associated adverse events. Case series The PENG block was administered with an introducer needle. The catheter was then inserted 3 cm beyond the needle tip. In three patients, blood aspiration through the catheter occurred. In each patient, the catheter was repositioned 0.5–1.0 cm more medially. No blood aspiration or visible hematoma occurred subsequently. The presence of any vascular structure deep to the iliopsoas muscle was excluded postoperatively based on a Doppler color flow scan. Discussion Overall, eight patients had femoral neck fractures, and two patients had intertrochanteric fractures. All 10 patients reported good pain relief. The median (IQR) Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) score decreased from 7 (6–7) before the block to 2 (2–2.75) 20 min after PENG catheter placement. The median (IQR) NRS score after 12, 24 and 48 hours were 2 (2–3), 2 (2–3), and 2 (0.25–2), respectively. Patients underwent surgery 24–48 hours following catheter placement. Catheters were removed by an Acute Pain Service nurse 72 hours postinsertion. We want to highlight the potential for intravascular catheter placement in this anatomical region. Further studies are required to confirm if this is a technical error or an associated complication of continuous PENG blocks.

Click on the article title to read more.

Nerve injury is a feared complication of peripheral nerve blockade. The aim of this study was to test the effectiveness of a triple monitoring (TM), i.e., a combination of ultrasound (US), nerve stimulation (NS) and opening injection pressure (OIP) during interscalene brachial plexus block (IBPB) for surgery of the shoulder. Sixty patients undergoing IBPB for shoulder arthroscopy received TM. BSmart^®, an inline injection device connected to a 10 mL syringe, was used to detect OIP during IBPB. Nerve stimulation was set to 0.5 mA to rule out any motor response, and if OIP was below 15 PSI, 10 mL of local anaesthetic was injected under US guidance between the C5 and C6 roots. The main outcome was the ability of TM to detect a needle–nerve contact. Other outcomes including the duration of IBPB; pain during injection; postoperative neurologic dysfunction. Triple monitoring revealed needle–nerve contact in 33 patients (55%). In 18 patients, NS evoked motor responses despite first control with US; in a further 15 patients, BSmart^® detected an OIP higher than 15 PSI, despite the absence of motor response to NS. Mean duration of IBPB was 67.2 ± 5.3 seconds; neither pain during injection nor postoperative neurologic dysfunctions were detected. Clinical follow up excluded the presence of postoperative neuropathies. Triple monitoring showed to be a useful and feasible tool while performing IBPB for arthroscopic shoulder surgery. Future studies will be needed to confirm our findings.

Introduction: In literature, there is plenty of material regarding regional anesthesia techniques and block safety, but lacks about block success prevision. The perfusion index (PI) is an oximetry reliability indicator, available on many monitors as non-invasive parameter, indicating the ratio of arterial blood flow (pulsatile flow) to venous, capillary, and tissue blood flow (non-pulsatile blood flow). We hypothesized that that analysis of PI variations after performing regional anesthesia could have a role in predicting a successful nerve block. Methods: Twenty-four consecutive patients regularly scheduled for limb surgery in regional anesthesia were included in our observation. PI measurements were recorded before regional anesthesia, and 1, 2, 3, 5, and 10 min after needle withdrawal. Along with PI, also sensation to cold (ice test), tactile sensation, and motor function were recorded before regional anesthesia, and 1, 2, 3, 5, and 10 min after needle withdrawal on the limb where the block were performed. Results: Ten sciatic nerve blocks, 6 spinal anesthesia, 8 brachial plexus block were performed and resulted successful. In all cases, PI values tripled at 5 min after the block execution and increased linearly, reaching at 10 min an average PI value 3.8 times higher for the interscalene group, 4 times for the spinal group, and 8 for the sciatic group. Conclusions: A tripled PI within 5 min from performing regional anesthesia showed to be a reliable indicator of nerve block success, but a bigger trial involving more patients and different anesthetic concentrations may be necessary to confirm this assumption.