Ultrasound-guided peripheral abdominal wall blocks.

The practice of regional anesthesia is in a state of progressive evolution, mainly due to the advent of ultrasound as an anesthesiologist's instrument. Alternative techniques for postoperative analgesia of abdominal surgeries, such as transversus abdominis plane block, oblique subcostal transversus abdominis plane block, rectus abdominis muscle sheath block, ilioinguinal and iliohypogastric nerve block, and quadratus lumborum plane block, have proven useful, with good analgesic efficacy, especially when neuroaxial techniques (spinal anesthesia or epidural anesthesia) are not possible. This review discusses such blockades in detail, including the anatomical principles, indications, techniques, and potential complications.

Ultrasound-guided peripheral abdominal wall blocks

The practice of regional anesthesia is in a state of progressive evolution, mainly due to the advent of ultrasound as an anesthesiologist's instrument. Alternative techniques for postoperative analgesia of abdominal surgeries, such as transversus abdominis plane block, oblique subcostal transversus abdominis plane block, rectus abdominis muscle sheath block, ilioinguinal and iliohypogastric nerve block, and quadratus lumborum plane block, have proven useful, with good analgesic efficacy, especially when neuroaxial techniques (spinal anesthesia or epidural anesthesia) are not possible. This review discusses such blockades in detail, including the anatomical principles, indications, techniques, and potential complications.

Inflammatory activity modulation by hypertonic saline and pentoxifylline in a rat model of strangulated closed loop small bowel obstruction.

BACKGROUND: Intestinal obstruction is an abdominal disease associated to mortality, especially if complicated with sepsis. Resuscitation increases survival, although controversies remain concerning to therapeutic strategy. METHODS: To assess the effects of hypertonic saline and pentoxifylline on the inflammatory response and oxidative stress, Wistar rats underwent a laparotomy loop intestinal obstruction and ischemia. After 24 h, the intestinal segment was resected (IO) without any other treatment and resuscitation/pentoxifylline were administered according to the group: Ringer's lactate (RL); hypertonic saline (HS); pentoxifylline (PTX); Ringer's lactate with pentoxifylline (RL + PTX); hypertonic saline with pentoxifylline (HS + PTX) and the control group (CG) that was not submitted to ischemia and obstruction. Mean arterial pressure (MAP) was recorded 4 times, and euthanasia was done 3 h after the resuscitation to obtain lung tissue, for malondialdehyde (MDA) by thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) method, inflammatory cytokines were assessed using ELISA and NF-κΒ by Western blotting. RESULTS: The initial MAP levels were higher in the RL and HS groups than in the others; however, the last measurement was similar among all the groups. IL-1ß, IL-6 and CINC-1 (Cytokine-Induced Neutrophil Chemoattractant-1) were lower in the HS, PTX and HS + PTX groups compared with the IO and RL groups. IL-10 was lower in the HS + PTX group than in the IO group. NF-κB in the HS, PTX and HS + PTX groups were lower than in the IO group; NF-κB in the HS + PTX group was lower than in the RL group. MDA in the lung was lower in the HS + PTX group compared with other groups. CONCLUSION: Hypertonic saline and pentoxifylline, both alone and in combination, attenuated oxidative stress and the activation of NF-κB, leading to a decrease in the inflammatory response.