Journal of Clinical Anesthesia 37 (2017) 114
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Journal of Clinical Anesthesia
Correspondence
Lumbar vertebra surgery performed with a
bilateral retrolaminar block
Keywords:
Lumbar vertebra surgery
Retrolaminar block
Perioperative pain
To the Editor,
The number of lumbar vertebrae surgeries has increased in recent
years. Despite this increase, the methods for perioperative pain man-
agement have remained limited. A retrolaminar block has been report-
ed to be an effective analgesic in breast cancer surgery, transapical
transcatheter aortic valve implantation, and ribs fracture treatment [1,
2,3]. However, the use of a retrolaminar block for lumbar vertebra sur-
gery has not been reported. Here, we report the successful use of a
retrolaminar block in a lumbar vertebrae surgery for perioperative
pain management. The patient was an 80-year-old man who
underwent lumbar laminoplasty of L2 to L4 and presented with a non-
steroidal anti-inflammatory drug allergy. Considering the efficacy of
perioperative analgesia, we performed a bilateral retrolaminar block
under general anesthesia. An ultrasound-guided bilateral retrolaminar
nerve block was performed using a high-frequency linear probe at-
tached to a LOGIQ e Premium ultrasound system (GE Healthcare
Japan, Tokyo, Japan). A 0.375% levobupivacaine 40 mL in total (20 mL
0952-8180/© 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
injected into each side) was injected into the bilateral dorsal space of
the fourth thoracic spinous process. During the operative period, no re-
markable events occurred. No additional analgesics were administered
during the perioperative period. This suggests that a retrolaminar
block can block the posterior rami of the lumbar nerves. A bilateral
retrolaminar block was an effective analgesic for lumbar vertebrae
surgery.
Acknowledgements relating to this article: none.
Hironobu Ueshima, MD, PhD, Lecturer*
Eiko Hara, MD, Associate Professor
Hiroshi Otake, MD, PhD, Professor
Department of Anesthesiology, Showa University Hospital, Tokyo, Japan
⁎Corresponding author at: Department of Anesthesiology, Showa
University Hospital, Hatanodai Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
E-mail address: ueshimhi@yahoo.co.jp (H. Ueshima).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinane.2016.12.021
References
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