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A N E S T H E S I A
Keep in mind, though, that it's not always 100% of your anesthesia
solution. Although shoulder, arm, wrist and hand surgeries can be performed successfully with just a block and some sedation, surgeries
from the knee through the ankle often require the assistance of general
anesthesia and post-op options.
Still, the combination of a nerve block, general anesthesia and postop opioids allows lighter usage of the last 2 options. As a result,
patients emerge from their surgical anesthetic sooner and are much
more aware in post-op.
It should be noted that head and neck procedures are not suited for
regional anesthesia — unfortunately, we don't have a lot of nerves to
work with there — and although a transverse abdominus plane (TAP)
SHOT, BLOCK Continuous infusion catheters can keep a patient pain-free for days
after a peripheral nerve block wears off.
N O V E M B E R 2012 | O U T PAT 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
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