Portela Diego A, Moura Raiane A, Cavalcanti Mariana, Regier Penny J, Romano Marta, Stern Adam W, Vettorato Enzo, Otero Pablo E
Department of Comparative, Diagnostic and Population Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32608, USA.
Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32608, USA.
Vet Sci. 2025 Apr 17;12(4):374. doi: 10.3390/vetsci12040374.
Peripheral nerve blocks play a critical role in pain management; however, no technique has been described to specifically target the articular nerve branches of the elbow in dogs. This study aimed to develop and compare the success rate of an ultrasound-guided versus a blind pericapsular elbow desensitization (PED) technique in canine cadavers. Phase I involved gross and ultrasonographic evaluations of the elbow joint in four cadavers to identify landmarks for the PED technique. Phase II compared the ultrasound-guided and blind PED techniques using dye injections in eight cadavers, followed by the dissection and histological analysis of stained tissues to confirm nerve involvement. The results demonstrated that four quadrant injections are required to target the articular branches of the radial, ulnar, median, and musculocutaneous nerves. The ultrasound-guided technique achieved a significantly higher overall success rate (77.5%) than the blind technique (45%, = 0.005). While both techniques showed similar success rates (50-62.5%) for the ulnar, median, and musculocutaneous branches, the ultrasound-guided technique (100%) outperformed the blind technique for the cranial (37%, = 0.02) and caudal (12.5%, = 0.001) articular branches of the radial nerve. These findings provide a foundation for future clinical studies evaluating the ultrasound-guided PED technique in live animals.
外周神经阻滞在疼痛管理中起着关键作用；然而，尚未有专门针对犬肘部关节神经分支的技术被描述。本研究旨在开发并比较超声引导下与盲法关节周围肘部脱敏（PED）技术在犬类尸体中的成功率。第一阶段涉及对四只尸体的肘关节进行大体和超声评估，以确定PED技术的标志点。第二阶段使用染料注射对八只尸体比较超声引导下和盲法PED技术，随后对染色组织进行解剖和组织学分析以确认神经受累情况。结果表明，需要进行四个象限的注射才能针对桡神经、尺神经、正中神经和肌皮神经的关节分支。超声引导技术的总体成功率（77.5%）显著高于盲法技术（45%，P = 0.005）。虽然两种技术在尺神经、正中神经和肌皮神经分支上显示出相似的成功率（50 - 62.5%），但超声引导技术在桡神经的头侧（37%，P = 0.02）和尾侧（12.5%，P = 0.001）关节分支上优于盲法技术。这些发现为未来评估超声引导下PED技术在活体动物中的临床研究奠定了基础。
