[Comparing Onset Times and Vascular Punctures in axillary Blocks with Nerve Stimulation or Ultrasound: Randomised...

The use of ultrasound (US) guidance in regional anaesthesia has evolved in the last then years and has even been considered the fatest and safest way to identify peripheral nerves and vascular structures thus eliminating the risk of injuring them. Prior to US guidance, peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS) was the gold standard procedure of the last twenty years, still being used in the present alone or alongside US guidance. However, sometimes -especially in vessel rich areas such as the axillary plexus- it is hard to avoid injuring vascular structures with blind techniques such as PNS. The study's hypothesis was that out-of-plane US guided peri-neural axillary plexus block has a better success rate, faster onset and less intravascular punctures than the PNS method.