No abstract

For distal sciatic nerve blocks using the nerve stimulation technique, intraepineural injection of local anesthetics is common and associated with significant and clinically important higher success rates as well as shorter times until readiness for surgery. In both groups no block-related nerve damage was observed. The results indicate that for some blocks (e.g. sciatic, supraclavicular) perforation of the outer layers of connective tissue was always an important prerequisite for success using classical methods of nerve localization (cause of paresthesias and nerve stimulation technique). Additional nerve stimulation with an ultrasound-guided distal sciatic nerve block cannot make any additional contribution to the safety or success of the block. New insights concerning the architecture of the sciatic nerve are discussed and associated implications for the performance of distal ultrasound-guided sciatic nerve block are addressed.

In this small sample of patients with difficult-to-manage airways, the CTrach yielded high success rates for both ventilation and tracheal intubation. Adjusting manoeuvres can improve the laryngeal view further.