Clinical Evaluation of the Ultrasound-Guided Retroclavicular Brachial Plexus Block

Nerve blocks are used by anesthesiologists as methods of pain control or to allow for
painless surgery on a limb, rendering a general anesthetic for surgery unnecessary. Local
anesthetic medication is injected through a needle next to a nerve, often using an
ultrasound machine to visualize both the needle and nerve simultaneously. A catheter, a
small plastic tube, can be inserted next to the nerve in order to provide pain relief for
hours or days after surgery.

The nerves that provide sensation to the forearm, wrist and hand are the radial, median,
ulnar, musculocutaneous and medial nerve of the forearm. These nerves originate from a
network of nerve fibers that exit the spinal cord at the level of the neck. They are tightly
bundled together, forming the brachial plexus, from the neck to just above the axilla,
providing the anesthesiologist with many locations to perform a nerve block. One such block,
known as the infraclavicular block, approaches the nerves just beneath the clavicle and has
been performed for decades.

This study aims to examine a new technique to block the brachial plexus, performed at a
similar level as the infraclavicular brachial plexus nerve block. The ultrasound-guided
retroclavicular brachial plexus block has the potential advantages of being easier to
perform, more successful, less painful for the patient, and a better pathway for catheter
placement. It differs from the infraclavicular nerve block in that the needle is inserted
above the clavicle rather than below it. In addition, it will allow the anesthesiologist to
have another approach to the brachial plexus, which can be utilized if patients cannot have
an infraclavicular block or any other brachial plexus block due to anatomical changes, or
infection at the sight.

The retroclavicular brachial plexus block was first used in two patients at Brigham and
Women's Hospital in whom the infraclavicular approach was contraindicated due to anatomical
changes after surgery or trauma. This procedure has been found to be a reliable way to
perform a brachial plexus nerve block and has become a routine procedure at Brigham and
Women's Hospital for hand or forearm surgery over the past three years.

In reviewing the literature, a similar procedure was introduced by Hebbard and Royse in
2007, but no patient data was reported. By assessing the procedure in a prospective study,
the investigators will be able to describe the technique, the success rate and any
complications in the literature to allow other anesthesiologists to potentially incorporate
this block into their repertoire.

Inclusion Criteria:

- undergoing surgery of hand, wrist or forearm

- American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) physical status of I-II

- age greater than 18 years

- ability to provide written informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

- clinically significant coagulopathy

- infection at the injection site

- abnormal anatomy at the block site

- allergy to amide anesthetics

- severe pulmonary pathology

- pre-existing motor or sensory deficits in the operative limb

- pregnancy