Echo-guided invasive pain therapy: indications and limitations

Chinese Association for the Study of Pain: Experts consensus on ultrasound-guided injections for the treatment of spinal pain in China (2020 edition)

Spinal pain (SP) is a common condition that has a major negative impact on a patient’s quality of life. Recent developments in ultrasound-guided injections for the treatment of SP are increasingly being used in clinical practice. This clinical expert consensus describes the purpose, significance, implementation methods, indications, contraindications, and techniques of ultrasound-guided injections. This consensus offers a practical reference point for physicians to implement successfully ultrasound-guided injections in the treatment of chronic SP.

Ultrasound-guided superficial cervical plexus block for analgesia in patients undergoing craniotomy via suboccipital retrosigmoid approach: study protocol of a randomised controlled trial

INTRODUCTION

Scalp nerve block has been proven to be an alternative choice to opioids in multimodal analgesia. However, for the infratentorial space-occupying craniotomy, especially the suboccipital retrosigmoid craniotomy, scalp nerve block is insufficient.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

The study is a prospective, single-centre, randomised, paralleled-group controlled trial. Patients scheduled to receive elective suboccipital retrosigmoid craniotomy will be randomly assigned to the superficial cervical plexus block group or the control group. After anaesthesia induction, superficial cervical plexus nerve block will be performed under the guidance of ultrasound. The primary outcome is the cumulative consumption of sufentanil by the patient-controlled intravenous analgesia pump within 24 hours after surgery. Secondary outcomes include the cumulative consumption of sufentanil at other four time points and numerical rating scale pain severity score.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

The protocol (version number: 2.0, 10 April 2019) has been approved by the Ethics Review Committee of China Registered Clinical Trials (Ethics Review No. ChiECRCT-20190047). The findings of this study will be disseminated in peer-reviewed journals and at scientific conferences.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER

NCT04036812.