In March, Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center surgeons transplanted a cadaveric donor hand to a 26-year-old patient. Before surgery, the anesthesiologists used ultrasound evaluation to map the vascular anatomy of the patient’s arm to minimize blind surgical exploration for residual vessels. They also used ultrasound guidance to place a brachial plexus catheter in the supraclavicular fossa of the awake patient. This guidance helped minimize later bleeding around the nerves.
The team infused a local anesthetic through the catheter to maximize vasodilation to the transplanted hand, decrease vasospasm and improve oxygenation to the donor tissue.
Read the UCLA report on anesthesia’s role in the hand transplant.
Read more coverage on anesthesia:
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– California Outpatient Anesthesiologist Loses Prescribing License Over Vicodin Scam
– AHA Guidelines Discuss Anesthesiologist Role in Congenital Heart Disease
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