The Role of Ultrasound in Regional Anaesthesia
The key to regional anaesthesia has always been the right dose of local anaesthetic in the right place. The best blocks performed without ultrasound can’t be improved on. With ultrasound however we can increase the proportion of blocks with the right dose in the right place. Intravascular and intraneural injection can be detected and avoided through careful imaging as can transgression of the needle tip into nerves, large blood vessels, pleura or the central nervous system. Ultrasound offers new approaches to most blocks which in time may be shown to be preferable to the previous approaches. Positioning of blocks on nerves is no longer constrained by anatomical landmarks. Most excitingly ultrasound offers the possibility of reliable simple blocks in areas that were previously the domain of a few enthusiasts.
Cassandra Hargreaves (ASURA Conference Manager)
PO Box 600
Edgecliff
NSW 2027
Tel: +61 2 9327 4022
Fax: +61 2 9327 7666
Email: chargreaves@fed.asa.org.au
