Ultrasound Guided Blocks for Chronic Pain Management - Peripheral Structures

Philip Peng M.B.B.S., F.R.C.P.C
Associate Professor
Department of Anesthesia and Pain Management
University Health Network
University of Toronto
Toronto, Ontario

Introduction - TOP

Application of ultrasound in pain medicine (USPM) is a rapidly growing field as indicated by the increasing number of USPM workshops held in the past three years in North America, Europe and Asia. Publication of ultrasoundguided interventional pain procedures has also increased at a remarkable rate. A search of the Medline® database revealed only 3 publications of ultrasound-guided or ultrasound-assisted injection techniques (excluding peri-operative and various intra-articular, interlaminar and trigger point injections) between 1982 and 2002 but 42 publications between 2003 and 2008.1

Traditional interventional procedures for pain management are often performed by techniques using either landmark or imaging guidance (e.g., fluoroscopy and computed tomography (CT) scan). A comparison of the advantages and disadvantages of various imaging techniques is summarized in Table 1.

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