REVIEW CURRENT OPINION Regional anesthesia for trauma outside the operating theatre Jason J. Choia, Emily Lina, and Jeff Gadsdenb Purpose of review Pain management in the trauma patient can be challenging, especially outside the operating room setting. Traditional analgesics such as opioids and NSAIDs are also problematic in trauma care. In this review, the use of regional anesthetic techniques outside the operating theatre is discussed. Recent findings Regional anesthesia is an increasing but still underutilized clinical tool for the trauma patient outside the operating room. Regional anesthesia provides well tolerated and effective analgesia and anesthesia for many indications in the trauma setting including hip fracture, reduction of joint dislocation, wound debridement, laceration repair, and multiple rib fractures. Its use can increase safety and resource allocation in emergency departments. Performance of peripheral nerve blocks, especially with ultrasound, is amenable in various medical environments with minimal training. Summary Pain is often poorly managed in the trauma patient. In addition to quality analgesia, regional anesthesia provides a variety of benefits in the trauma setting outside the traditional operating room setting. While further utilization requires increased training and structural changes, existing tools such as ultrasound are removing barriers to the widespread use of peripheral nerve block techniques across multiple disciplines. Keywords emergency room, nerve block, prehospital, regional anesthesia, trauma INTRODUCTION provide high-quality, targeted pain relief and lack Pain management in the trauma patient faces a the side-effects associated with opioids and NSAIDs. number of challenges. During resuscitation of the Much has been written about the use of regional critically injured patient, analgesia is clearly not anesthesia during the operative management of the highest priority. Moreover, even following trauma patients. This review will instead focus on initial stabilization, pain is often used as a physical the utility of regional anesthesia in the injured sign that clinicians are reluctant to mask (e.g., patient outside the operating room , and in particu- abdominal pain, cervical spine pain, or pain in a lar the prehospital setting and the emergency tense musculoskeletal compartment). However, department (ED). inadequate analgesia should be avoided for more than simply humanitarian reasons; recent studies have shown that untreated pain leads to a higher a b incidence of conditions, such as chronic pain and St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center, New post-traumatic stress disorder [1]. York, New York, USA Analgesics such as opioids and NSAIDs are Correspondence to Jeff Gadsden, MD, FRCPC, FANZCA, Department often avoided, particularly in chest or neurotrauma, of Anesthesiology, St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center, 1111 Amster- due to side-effects such as respiratory depression, dam Avenue, New York, NY 10025, USA. Tel: +1 212 523 2500; fax: +1 sedation, and bleeding. These limitations have 212 523 3930; e-mail: [email protected] driven the increased use of regional anesthesia in Curr Opin Anesthesiol 2013, 26:495–500 trauma care. Regional anesthetic techniques can DOI:10.1097/ACO.0b013e3283625ce3 0952-7907 ß 2013 Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins www.co-anesthesiology.com Copyright © Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited. Anesthesia outside the operating room patient should simply be extricated and transferred KEY POINTS expeditiously. The alternative (‘stay and play’) Regional anesthesia provides site-specific and high- strategy suggests that some degree of on-scene resus- quality analgesia without risk of respiratory depression, citation and treatment is beneficial, and should be obtundation, and bleeding associated with opioids performed prior to transfer. This is a controversial and NSAIDS. topic, and several factors influence the appropriate- ness of either strategy, including the level of training The growing availability and mobility of ultrasound equipment has allowed for increased performance and of the Emergency Medical Services team (e.g., physi- teaching of peripheral nerve blocks outside the cians versus firefighters), the predicted transfer time traditional operating room environment. to hospital, and most importantly, the clinical status of the patient [2,3]. Regional anesthesia techniques offer well tolerated and Regional anesthesia may not be suitable in cer- effective analgesia for specific trauma indications, such as hip fracture, rib fracture, joint dislocations, and tain circumstances but can be used safely in selected minor extremity emergencies. patients. Clearly, when ongoing resuscitation is still being addressed, analgesia should not be a priority. Use of peripheral nerve blocks in patients at risk for In addition, the risks of peripheral nerve block may compartment syndrome remains controversial, but there outweigh its benefit under certain conditions, for is no definitive correlation between the use of PNB and possible delay in diagnosing compartment syndrome. example, when an injured limb has neurologic or vascular impairment mandating frequent assess- In stable and selected trauma patients, regional ments (see section on complications). Although anesthesia outside of the operating room is increasingly continuous catheter techniques have many advan- feasible but requires additional training and structural tages in the injured patient, the risk of infection changes across multiple disciplines. with a catheter is higher in trauma patients admitted to ICU [odds ratio (OR) 5.07] [4]. Peripheral nerve blockade (PNB) requires THE ADVANTAGES OF REGIONAL specialized training that has traditionally been the ANESTHESIA IN TRAUMA CARE domain of the operating room anesthesiologist. The benefits of regional anesthesia techniques in the Increasingly, emergency medicine physicians as trauma patient have been well described, and are well as intensivists and traumatologists with non- summarized as follows: anesthesiology backgrounds are gaining experience with PNB techniques [5,6&]. The routine availability (1) site-specific, high-quality analgesia without of ultrasound equipment in both the ED and ICU for systemic side-effects; line placement, cardiac exam, and so on, has con- (2) reduction in opioid use and the associated tributed to the rise of PNBs in these areas. Emer- adverse effects (e.g., respiratory depression gency medicine fellowship training programs in and sedation); ultrasonography are now commonly including (3) decreased need for sedatives and improved nerve blocks as part of the curriculum. Recently, neurologic assessment; portable and relatively low-cost ultrasound (4) reduction in length of stay in ED; machines designed for point-of-care use outside (5) more efficient use of resources: decreased need hospital settings have become available and have for supervision/staffing and monitoring; been helpful during on-scene evaluation and trans- (6) reduction in stress response to injury; and port in both civilian and military medicine [7]. (7) potential reduction in risk of chronic pain syndromes and post-traumatic stress disorder. SPECIFIC INDICATIONS FOR PERIPHERAL NERVE BLOCKADE IN THE TRAUMA GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR PATIENT REGIONAL ANESTHESIA OUTSIDE THE There are several common injuries that are well OPERATING ROOM suited to PNB for management of pain and/or Initial priorities in trauma care include airway man- therapy, including hip and/or femoral fracture, agement, control of bleeding, stabilization of the shoulder dislocation, distal extremity injuries, and spine, and so on. There are two general strategies to fractured ribs. the prehospital management of the injured patient. The first, nicknamed ‘scoop-and-run’, is based on Hip/femur fracture the principle that on-scene attempts at stabilization Femoral neck fractures in the elderly carry high ultimately delay transfer to definitive care, and the morbidity and adversely affect quality of life. 496 www.co-anesthesiology.com Volume 26 Number 4 August 2013 Copyright © Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited. Regional anesthesia for trauma outside operating theatre Choi et al. Although pain from the fracture site is often mod- Regional anesthesia, particularly interscalene erate-to-severe, opioid administration is often brachial plexus block (ISB), offers an attractive restricted in this population because of concerns alternative that eases the requirements for perform- of delirium or respiratory depression, and many ing shoulder dislocation reduction. ISB provides hip fracture patients are left in considerable discom- profound shoulder girdle muscle relaxation by anes- fort while awaiting surgical repair [8&]. thetizing the superior trunk of the brachial plexus. The femoral nerve innervates much of the femur ISB does not require sedation, and although cardio- and hip joint; in patients with femoral neck frac- respiratory monitoring is still required, the risk of tures, there are clear benefits to performing femoral apnea or hypotension is virtually nonexistent. nerve or fascia iliaca blocks (FIB) as early as pos- Blaivas et al. [17] demonstrated that length of stay sible (i.e., in the ED). These include significantly in the ED and need for one-on-one care is reduced in decreased pain