Patients at Epsom Hospital are reaping the benefits of the hospital’s recently acquired SONOSITE S-Nerve point-of-care ultrasound system.
Consultant anaesthetist, Dr Venu Shylaja, explained: “Many surgical cases are now carried out using ultrasound-guided regional nerve blocks rather than general anaesthesia, for example, interscalene blocks for shoulder surgery and axillary blocks for hand surgery. It is crucial that we perform these blocks perfectly and the S-Nerve, purchased by the hospital’s League of Friends, plays a vital role in this.” “We chose the S-Nerve because we were already familiar with SonoSite equipment and training courses, and knew from experience that the instruments and after-sales service were excellent. The S-Nerve is well designed, and the image quality is very good. The advanced needle visualisation technology makes such a difference; the clarity of the image improves accuracy and precision, and our success rate has increased to around 96%-97%. Ultrasound guidance also allows us to perform nerve blocks with less anaesthetic, minimising the risk of local anaesthetic toxicity and unnecessarily prolonged motor block occurring, while still ensuring patient comfort throughout the procedure, as well as eliminating the need for opioid painkillers post-operatively.”
