Phrenic nerve block for thoracic surgery

Randomized double-blind comparison of phrenic nerve infiltration and suprascapular nerve block for ipsilateral shoulder pain after thoracic surgery.

OBJECTIVE Despite the use of thoracic epidural analgesia, a constant severe ache occurs in the ipsilateral shoulder of almost 75% of patients after thoracotomy. The aim of this prospective-randomized study was to investigate the effect of phrenic nerve infiltration (PNI) compared with suprascapular nerve block (SNB) on ipsilateral shoulder pain after thoracic surgery. METHODS After Local Rese...

Thoracic paravertebral nerve block.

Thoracic paravertebral block versus pectoral nerve block for analgesia after breast surgery

Paravertebral block; Pectoral nerve block; Breast surgery Abstract Background: Pectoral nerve block (Pecs) is a novel interfascial plane block which can provide analgesia after breast surgery while paravertebral block (PVB) is widely used for this purpose. We evaluated the difference between the two techniques in regard to morphine consumption and analgesic efficacy after modified radical maste...

Cervical phrenic nerve block for intractable hiccups in cancer patients.

Takiguchi et al. (1) have recently emphasized the occurrence of hiccups in cancer patients as a poorly recognized complication of chemotherapy. Hiccups is indeed a relatively frequent problem in these patients that usually occurs when there is continuous phrenic nerve or diaphragmatic irritation (for example, from mediastinal or abdominal tumors or abscesses, hepatomegaly, ascites, esophagitis,...

Persistent phrenic nerve paralysis following interscalene brachial plexus block.

A 60-yr-old man, 160 cm tall, weighing 75 kg, with American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status class II, was admitted for elective right shoulder surgery. His medical history was unremarkable except for recent mild diabetes with no related neuropathy, controlled by diet and glimepiride. Physical examination results were unremarkable, and the results of laboratory studies were all with...