This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Letters to the Editor: Submit a response Letters to the Editor: View responses Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when Letters to the Editor are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to My File Cabinet Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Weber, S. C. Articles by Jain, R. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Weber, S. C. Articles by Jain, R. Social Bookmarking             What's this?

Scalene Regional Anesthesia for Shoulder Surgery in a Community Setting: An Assessment of Risk

Investigation performed at Sacramento Knee and Sports Medicine and Sutter General Hospital, Sacramento, California

Stephen C. Weber, MD
Sacramento Knee and Sports Medicine, 2801 K Street, #310, Sacramento, CA 95816

Ritu Jain, MD
Sutter General Hospital, 2801 L Street, Sacramento, CA 95816

The authors did not receive grants or outside funding in support of their research or preparation of this manuscript. They did not receive payments or other benefits or a commitment or agreement to provide such benefits from a commercial entity. No commercial entity paid or directed, or agreed to pay or direct, any benefits to any research fund, foundation, educational institution, or other charitable or nonprofit organization with which the authors are affiliated or associated.

Background: A retrospective review of shoulder procedures using scalene block anesthesia was performed.

Methods: The records of all 218 patients who had undergone scalene block anesthesia over a three-year period at two facilities were retrospectively reviewed. All blocks were performed with use of a standard blunt-needle technique with the patient awake and with use of preoperative nerve stimulation to localize the brachial plexus.

Results: Adjunctive general anesthesia was used for 179 (82%) of the 218 patients. Seventy-two patients (33%) required intravenous pain medication immediately on arrival in the recovery room, and twenty-eight blocks (13%) failed. One grand mal seizure, one episode of cardiovascular collapse, and four episodes of severe respiratory distress were noted. Two patients had temporary neurologic injuries that persisted at six weeks. The mean duration of the block was 9 ± 4.6 hours. Two hundred (92%) of the 218 patients required parenteral narcotics despite the use of scalene block anesthesia.

Conclusion: Informed consent discussions regarding scalene block anesthesia should include information on the prevalence of complications and the efficacy of the technique.

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				R. Brull, C. J. L. McCartney, V. W. S. Chan, and H. El-Beheiry Neurological Complications After Regional Anesthesia: Contemporary Estimates of Risk Anesth. Analg., April 1, 2007; 104(4): 965 - 974. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. Hadzic Is Regional Anesthesia Really Better than General Anesthesia? Anesth. Analg., December 1, 2005; 101(6): 1631 - 1633. [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. Y. Bishop, M. Sprague, J. Gelber, M. Krol, M. A. Rosenblatt, J. Gladstone, and E. L. Flatow Interscalene Regional Anesthesia for Shoulder Surgery J. Bone Joint Surg. Am., May 1, 2005; 87(5): 974 - 979. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Letters to the Editor:

Stanford University Libraries' HighWire Press (TM) assists in the publication of JBJS Online.
Copyright © 2002 by The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Inc. Online ISSN: 1535-1386.
The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery®, JBJS®, JB&JS®, and eJBJS® are registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.