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O U T P AT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E | D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 4
T
hey're difficult to place and even harder to get paid for, so
why does my anesthesia group place so many continuous
nerve blocks? We've sent close to 5,000 patients home with
pain catheters in the last 4 years for 1 simple reason: Our
surgeons and patients love them. Pain catheters push
painful procedures that once required hospital stays to the outpatient
arena and get patients through the critical first 48 hours surgery with
little to no pain medicine. They're not without their challenges, howev-
er. Here are 5 pieces of advice on overcoming the obstacles.
P O S T - O P P A I N
Are Continuous
Nerve Blocks
Worth the Trouble?
VISUAL CUES An anesthesiologist
places an ultrasound-guided con-
tinuous interscalene block.
Pamela
Bevelhymer,
RN,
BSN
The benefits of pain catheters outweigh
the drawbacks.
Vincent P. Kasper Jr., MD | Philadelphia, Pa.
