Outpatient Surgery Magazine

What Surgeons Want - November 2016 - Subscribe to 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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ties that place CNBs is that if a patient ever has a problem — and there will be prob- lems, even in our program where we're placing dozens of blocks a week — we don't shy away from bringing the patient back in and fix- ing it. Part of placing continuous nerve blocks is understanding that there are inherent risks associated with the procedure and that the success rate is not 100%. But what's more important is how you handle these issues. For example, if a catheter comes loose or migrates, impacting the patient's comfort, we don't simply tell the patient, "Sorry, take your pain medications. There is nothing we can do," as some facilities may do. Rather, we bring them back in and will either replace the block or adjust the catheter until they're no longer in pain. For facilities interested in adding CNBs to their program, I highly recommend that you not only have a plan in place for patients pre- senting with emergency complications (which are exquisitely rare), but also for the more minor issues like the ones above that may be an inconvenience for the patient. Not only could you help reduce the risk of hospital readmissions for pain or catheter problems, but patients will also take notice of the extra effort you put into their care. OSM 6 8 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 6 "To see the needle better, insert the needle much farther from the ultrasound probe." Dr. Winchester (brandon@blockjocks.com) is the regional anesthesia fellowship director at Andrews Institute for Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine and co-founder of blockjocks.com.

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