From visualizing nerves to visualizing blocks: a natural trend?

Excerpt

The popularity of local and regional anesthesia has been transformed by the inclusion of ultrasound in clinical practice. Real-time visualization of the target nerves has led to a quantitative improvement in the safety of local anesthetics through a reduction in systemic toxicity.1 It has also resulted in a measurable improvement in the onset time of anesthesia and the quality of distal blocks.2 Will real-time visualization of the onset of distal blocks lead to a similar future? The paper by Andreasen et al. in this issue of the Journal on the visual assessment of thermographic patterns to predict the success of a lateral infraclavicular block (LIB)3 gives us some food for thought. …