[Regional anesthesia of the sciatic nerve with anterior approach in children: new landmarks]

The purpose of the case study was to evaluate new landmarks for the needle insertion in sciatic nerve block made through the anterior approach. We identified, by X-Ray, new simplified bone landmarks and suggested that the skin should be marked in order to find the puncture site. We made regional anesthesia of lower limbs through femoral and sciatic nerve blocks in 221 children with the classical posterior approach used in 166 patients and with the anterior approach with skin marks used in 55 children. The conclusion is that the new ischial approach is a good alternative to the classical posterior approach. The former ensures the regional anesthesia of the lower limbs in all trauma cases; besides, it cuts the block implementation time. The rate of complications and the duration of postoperative analgesia are not dependent on a selected approach.