Early Ultrasound-guided Nerve Block for Painful Hand Injuries in the Emergency Department

Summary

This study aims to determine whether early initiation of temporary nerve block therapy improves patient satisfaction, decreases patient pain and discomfort, decreases the use of dangerous medications such as narcotics, and frees hospital resources. Hand injuries, such as blast injuries from fireworks, can be very painful. In the emergency department, providers generally use narcotic pain medications to control pain, but these have significant side effects. It is possible that temporary nerve blocks, guided by ultrasound, can be safe and useful in the emergency department. They have been shown to be effective in several studies around the country. The goal of this study is to build on the experience of others to increase the use of US-guided regional nerve blocks as a form of pain management in hand and distal forearm injuries in the Harborview Medical Center (HMC) emergency department. By working with a multidisciplinary team, the study investigators hope to use this technique to decrease narcotic use and improve pain control, and to provide important data for Emergency Medicine physicians elsewhere who are considering incorporating this nerve block technique into their practice.

Timeline

Start

2017-07-01

Primary completion

2018-07-10

Completion

2018-07-10

Publications

• Background Chung KC, Spilson SV. The frequency and epidemiology of hand and forearm fractures in the United States. J Hand Surg Am. 2001 Sep;26(5):908-15. doi: 10.1053/jhsu.2001.26322.
• Background Patanwala AE, Keim SM, Erstad BL. Intravenous opioids for severe acute pain in the emergency department. Ann Pharmacother. 2010 Nov;44(11):1800-9. doi: 10.1345/aph.1P438. Epub 2010 Oct 26.
• Background Williams SR, Chouinard P, Arcand G, Harris P, Ruel M, Boudreault D, Girard F. Ultrasound guidance speeds execution and improves the quality of supraclavicular block. Anesth Analg. 2003 Nov;97(5):1518-1523. doi: 10.1213/01.ANE.0000086730.09173.CA.
• Background Marhofer P, Greher M, Kapral S. Ultrasound guidance in regional anaesthesia. Br J Anaesth. 2005 Jan;94(1):7-17. doi: 10.1093/bja/aei002. Epub 2004 Jul 26.
• Background Witwicki T, Dziak A. [Sarcomatous degeneration in the course of Recklinghausen's neurofibromatosis]. Chir Narzadow Ruchu Ortop Pol. 1969;34(6):809-11. No abstract available. Polish.
• Background Stone MB, Price DD, Wang R. Ultrasound-guided supraclavicular block for the treatment of upper extremity fractures, dislocations, and abscesses in the ED. Am J Emerg Med. 2007 May;25(4):472-5. doi: 10.1016/j.ajem.2006.08.019.
• Background Wroe P, O'Shea R, Johnson B, Hoffman R, Nagdev A. Ultrasound-guided forearm nerve blocks for hand blast injuries: case series and multidisciplinary protocol. Am J Emerg Med. 2016 Sep;34(9):1895-7. doi: 10.1016/j.ajem.2016.06.111. Epub 2016 Jul 11. No abstract available.
• Background Frenkel O, Liebmann O, Fischer JW. Ultrasound-guided forearm nerve blocks in kids: a novel method for pain control in the treatment of hand-injured pediatric patients in the emergency department. Pediatr Emerg Care. 2015 Apr;31(4):255-9. doi: 10.1097/PEC.0000000000000398.
• Background Liebmann O, Price D, Mills C, Gardner R, Wang R, Wilson S, Gray A. Feasibility of forearm ultrasonography-guided nerve blocks of the radial, ulnar, and median nerves for hand procedures in the emergency department. Ann Emerg Med. 2006 Nov;48(5):558-62. doi: 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2006.04.014. Epub 2006 Jun 14.
• Background Amini R, Kartchner JZ, Nagdev A, Adhikari S. Ultrasound-Guided Nerve Blocks in Emergency Medicine Practice. J Ultrasound Med. 2016 Apr;35(4):731-6. doi: 10.7863/ultra.15.05095. Epub 2016 Mar 1.

Drugs

Indications

No indication recorded.