Abstract
Arthroscopic shoulder surgeries cause severe postoperative pain. The interscalene block technique is a gold standard and more effective in controlling postoperative pain. However, it may eventually be associated with some critical complications. We reported a regional anesthesia that combines ultrasound-guided continuous suprascapular nerve catheter (SNC) and axillary nerve block (ANB) in arthroscopic shoulder surgery in a patient who had chronic spinal cord injury at C5-C6. Before surgery, ultrasound-guided SNC and ANB were performed using a high-frequency linear ultrasound probe. 15 ml of 0.5% ropivacaine was injected in each. During surgery, patients were intubated, and general anesthesia was performed with sevoflurane, fentanyl, and remifentanil (0.05-0.1 µg/kg/min). The patients did not require an increase of infusion rate of remifentanil during the surgical procedure. No serious complications occurred, and postoperative pain control was effective during the observation time. In conclusion, combining SNC and ANB is an effective and safe technique with intraoperative anesthesia and postoperative analgesia for certain procedures of arthroscopic shoulder surgery.
