Relief for Children with Orthopaedic Surgery

According to a recent press release from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, an anesthesia pouch will allow children to go home much sooner after surgery.

A small pouch which blocks pain transmission from where the surgery was done on the body as well as delivers local anesthetic agents may be the relief that children recovering from orthopaedic surgery need. This technique, which is already used in adults, has now been adapted by The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia for children because it will make children feel less pain and leave the hospital much sooner.

This new technique for children was studied by the outcomes of 217 children who received the pouch between the years 2003 and 2006 for pain management after orthopaedic surgery for a procedure called continuous peripheral nerve blockade (CPNB.) One can find the findings in the recently published November 2007 issue of the journal "Anesthesia & Analgesia."

"The main advantage is that the patients can leave the hospital sooner," said Arjunan Ganesh, M.D., a pediatric anesthesiologist at The Children's Hospital and the lead author of the study. "And, you are able to ensure better pain control and to decrease use of opioids and their side effects, such as itching and nausea."

And this system is quite easily. Once getting discharged from a hospital with the anesthesia pouch which is attached to a belt worn around the waist or over the shoulder to deliver numbing medication known as local anesthetic around nerves, the patient will also be visited by a nurse at home until the pouch is ready to be removed. Following removal of the device, the patient will also receive calls from a nurse practitioner twice a day until numbness and any side effects from the pouch are gone. The punch can also be removed easily at home by the patient's parents to avoid another office visit. It is simply very convenient.