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A post over on Sermo got me thinking...
I am proficient with the ultrasound for the usual single-shot blocks: interscalene, supraclavicular, femoral, popliteal. I generally don't use nerve stimulation except for some fat legs when doing a popliteal or a subgluteal sciatic, just to confirm that I am indeed aiming for nerve and not fat. However, for catheters, I've been using both ultrasound and nerve stimulation because that's how I was trained as a resident -- something about stimulating catheters working better than non-stimulating catheters.
So is there any recent data to support that assertion? Or should I just get a good image, inject my local, and just thread the damn catheter and be done with it? It's what I'd much rather do...plus then I can just use an epidural kit for my materials.
I am proficient with the ultrasound for the usual single-shot blocks: interscalene, supraclavicular, femoral, popliteal. I generally don't use nerve stimulation except for some fat legs when doing a popliteal or a subgluteal sciatic, just to confirm that I am indeed aiming for nerve and not fat. However, for catheters, I've been using both ultrasound and nerve stimulation because that's how I was trained as a resident -- something about stimulating catheters working better than non-stimulating catheters.
So is there any recent data to support that assertion? Or should I just get a good image, inject my local, and just thread the damn catheter and be done with it? It's what I'd much rather do...plus then I can just use an epidural kit for my materials.