Ultrasound imaging for regional anesthesia in infants, children, and adolescents: a review of current literature and its application in the practice of extremity and trunk blocks.

Abstract

The use of ultrasound guidance has provided an opportunity to perform many peripheral nerve blocks that would have been difficult to perform in children based on pure landmark techniques due to the potential for injection into contiguous sensitive vascular areas. This review article provides the readers with techniques on ultrasound-guided peripheral nerve blocks of the extremities and trunk with currently available literature to substantiate the available evidence for the use of these techniques. Ultrasound images of the blocks with corresponding line diagrams to demonstrate the placement of the ultrasound probe have been provided for all the relevant nerve blocks in children. The authors hope that this review will stimulate further research into ultrasound-guided regional anesthesia in infants, children, and adolescents and stimulate more randomized controlled trials to provide a greater understanding of the anatomy and physiology of regional anesthesia in pediatrics.