Optimization of procedural sedation and analgesia during atrial fibrillation ablation.

Purpose Of Review: This mini-review is aimed to provide an overview and discuss procedural sedation and analgesia for atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation with focus at qualification of staff, patient evaluation, monitoring, medication and postprocedural care.

Recent Findings: Sleep-disordered breathing is highly prevalent in patients with AF. Impact of often used STOP-BANG questionnaire to detect sleep-disordered breathing in AF patients is limited due to its restricted validity.

Boundaries of the thoracic paravertebral space: potential risks and benefits of the thoracic paravertebral block from an anatomical perspective.

Purpose: Thoracic paravertebral block (TPVB) may be an alternative to thoracic epidural analgesia. A detailed knowledge of the anatomy of the TPV-space (TPVS), content and adnexa is essential in understanding the clinical consequences of TPVB. The exploration of the posterior TPVS accessibility in this study allows (1) determination of the anatomical boundaries, content and adnexa, (2) description of an ultrasound-guided spread of low and high viscous liquid.

Continuous paravertebral block for postoperative pain compared to general anaesthesia and wound infiltration for major oncological breast surgery.

We hypothesized that improved acute postoperative pain relief will be achieved using general anaesthesia (GA) either in combination with continuous thoracic paravertebral block (GA-cPVB) or single shot (GA-sPVB) as compared to GA supplemented by local wound infiltration (GA-LWI) after unilateral major breast cancer surgery. A randomised controlled trial was conducted in 46 adult women in a day-care or short-stay hospital setting after major breast cancer surgery. Pain-intensity was measured using an 11-point visual analogue scale (VAS) until postoperative day 2.