Role of Ultrasound in Guided Nerve Block

Abstract

Ultrasound guided regional anesthesia (UGRA) for peripheral nerve blockade is becoming increasingly popular. The advantage of ultrasound technology is that it affords the anesthesiologist the real time ability to visualize neural structures, needle advancement, and local anesthetic spread. Recent data suggest that UGRA generates improved success rates and reductions in performance times in comparison to traditional approaches. Further, the use of ultrasound technology in peripheral nerve blocks has provided insight into needle–nerve interactions, revealing distinct limitations of nerve stimulator techniques (Brian, 2007). The study of the physical principles and the mechanism of action of the sound and the ultrasound waves makes the usage of the ultrasound unit much easier and also helps the user to choose the proper probe and frequency for the purpose needed (Willschke et al., 2005). The nature of ultrasound waves being reflected, refracted and scattered is the corner stone for the principle of action of ultrasound which makes it possible to visualize different tissues with various depth from the probe (Willschke et al., 2005).