Fear of block pain is diminished after experiencing the blocking procedure. Electrical stimuli was perceived as painful by 53% of patients, and this pain was more intense than with other block components. The majority of our patients would choose axillary block without sedation for future hand surgery and are satisfied with fast-tracking.

This study did not confirm our hypothesis that short-current impulses (0.1 ms) make neurostimulation of peripheral nerves painless, by selectively depolarizing motor-neurons. Longer impulses (0.3 ms) shorten block performance time, probably by easier location of the nerves, but the clinical relevance of this finding is doubtful.

No abstract