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Focused Factories - November 2015 - Outpatient Surgery Magazine

Outpatient Surgery Magazine, providing current information on Surgical Services, Surgical Facility Administration, Outpatient Surgery News and Trends, OR Excellence and more.

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make those cases faster. The adductor canal block (osmag.net/nJC4Tc) is an example of a nerve block where ultrasound has been instru- mental in achiev- ing optimal suc- cess. Plenty of evidence has emerged in the past 2 years that shows adductor canal blocks control pain after major knee surgery as effectively as femoral nerve blocks, so there's a clear clinical motive to perform them. Without ultrasound, it's a challenging block to place since there is typically no motor response elicited even when the stimulat- ing needle is in the correct location. With ultrasound, however, it's an easy block to perform. Adding image guidance to a regional program requires patience. The initial learning curve is steep, but you're essentially taking one step backward with the long-term goal of taking several steps forward. Over time and with the right anesthesia providers operating the probes, there's no doubt the technology makes a regional program more efficient. OSM 6 9 N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 5 | O U T P A T I E N TS U R G E R Y. N E T Dr. Winchester (brandon@blockjocks.com) is the regional anesthesia fellowship director at the Andrews Institute for Orthopedics & Sports Medicine in Gulf Breeze, Fla., and co-founder of the regional anesthesia education website www.blockjocks.com. z VISUAL AID Providers who use ultrasound guidance can place tough blocks faster and easier.

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