It is well-recognized that the arterio-venous (A/V) fistula is the best form of access to the circulation for maintenance haemodialysis [1]. The A/V fistula is less likely to fail than other methods of access, such as the Polytetrafluoroethylene graft, the tunnelled dialysis catheter and the emergency temporary dialysis catheter. Furthermore, a good A/V fistula reduces the risk of bacteraemia a...

We report a 10-year-old male patient (30 kg, 140 cm, ASA I) who underwent left latissimus dorsi muscle transfer (free flap) surgery under general anesthesia (GA) because of biceps brachii muscle motor weakness and atrophy occurring after oral (OPV) and inactive polio (IPV) vaccination (Figure 1). A decision was made to perform thoracic PVBs (TPVBs) bilaterally after surgery for postoperative pa...

BACKGROUND Up to 10% of epidurals fail due to incorrect catheter placement. We describe a novel optical method to assist epidural catheter insertion in a porcine model. METHODS Optical emissions were tested on ex vivo tissues from porcine paravertebral tissues to identify optical reflective spectra. The wavelengths of 650 and 532 nm differentiated epidural space from the ligamentum flavum. We...

BACKGROUND Regional anesthesia is known to prevent or attenuate the surgical stress response; therefore, inhibiting surgical stress by paravertebral anesthesia might attenuate perioperative factors that enhance tumor growth and spread. The authors hypothesized that breast cancer patients undergoing surgery with paravertebral anesthesia and analgesia combined with general anesthesia have a lower...

Paravertebral block is a unilateral analgesic technique that can provide adequate surgical anesthesia and great advantages in many types of surgery with a low side-effect profile. In this case we present combination of bilateral thoracic paravertebral block under ultrasound guidance with sedation which provides complete anesthesia and postoperative analgesia in a myasthenic patient undergoing c...

Background To achieve a prolonged therapeutic effect in patients with lumbar facet joint syndrome, radiofrequency medial branch neurotomy (RF-MB) is commonly performed. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prognostic value of paravertebral muscle twitching when performing RF-MB in patients with lumbar facet joint syndrome. Methods We collected and analyzed data from 68 patients with ...

OBJECTIVES To analyse side difference in bilateral trunk muscles in patients with hemiparetic stroke, to relate it with impairment and disability variables and to evaluate longitudinal changes. METHODS In a sample of 83 inpatients with hemiparetic stroke undergoing rehabilitation, we measured the cross-sectional area of the paravertebral muscle and thigh muscles using computed tomography at a...