Awake hand surgery under ultrasound-guided infraclavicular block is possible for cooperative children

Hülya Yanal, Yavuz Gürkan, Alparslan Kuş, Onur Balaban, Mine Solak, Kamil Toker

Medical Faculty Of Kocaeli University, Department Of Anesthesiology And Reanimation, Kocaeli, Turkey

Keywords: Children, infraclavicular block, ultrasound guided.

Abstract

In recent years, brachial plexus anesthesia techniques for upper limb surgery have been used more and more commonly on children; however, the patient is typically under deep sedation or general anesthesia. For eligible, cooperative children, surgery can also be performed using regional blocks while the patient is awake. We present 5 cases in which Ultrasound (US)-guided infraclavicular brachial plexus blocks (ICB) were used on children for hand or forearm surgery. Surgical anesthesia was achieved in all patients and surgery was completed uneventfully using brachial plexus anesthesia, without need for deep sedation.