A Short Report of the First Use of Catheter-over-Needle System (Contiplex^®C) for Continuous Peripheral Nerve Block Placement in Children in the UK

Abstract

Continuous peripheral nerve blocks (CPNB) are gaining popularity in paediatric practice owing to its superiority over neuraxial blocks in terms of side effects. The advent of ultrasound and development of new materials have made CPNBs feasible even in children, facilitating early ambulation, effective and prolonged post-operative analgesia. The usual perineural catheter sets we have used are "catheter through needle" types. The inability to fix and locate the catheter position after threading through and removing the block needle was the biggest problem. We describe a first use of the "catheter-over-needle" system (Contiplex ® C) developed by BBraun, in a series of 7 children. Its features were evaluated by 5 paediatric anaesthetists who routinely do CPNBs using the former system.