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Cervical Medial Branch and Third Occipital Nerve Blocks

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Ultrasound for Interventional Pain Management

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Abstract

Cervical medial branch blocks and third occipital nerve blocks are commonly used in the diagnosis and treatment of chronic neck pain and headaches related to cervical facet joints. When used to perform these blocks, ultrasound guidance can offer several advantages compared to fluoroscopy, such as shorter performance times and the need for fewer needle passes. In this chapter, we provide a detailed technical review of the in-plane sonographic approach.

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Abbreviations

AP:

Articular pillars

CMBBs:

Cervical medial branch blocks

LA:

Local anesthetic

SSC:

Semispinalis capitis muscle

TON:

Third occipital nerve

TP:

Transverse process

USG:

Ultrasound-guided

Suggested Reading

  • Finlayson RJ, Gaurav G, Alhujairi M, Dugani S, Tran DHQ. Cervical medial branch block: a novel technique using ultrasound guidance. Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2012;37:219–23.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Finlayson RJ, Etheridge JP, Vieira L, Gupta G, Tran DQH. A randomized comparison between ultrasound- and fluoroscopy-guided third occipital nerve block. Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2013;38:212–7.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Finlayson RJ, Etheridge JP, Tiyaprasertkul W, Nelems B, Tran DQH. A prospective validation of bi-planar ultrasound imaging for C5-C6 medial branch blocks. Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2014;39:160–3.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Finlayson RJ, Etheridge JP, Tiyaprasertkul W, Nelems B, Tran DQH. A randomized comparison between ultrasound- and fluoroscopy-guided C7 medial branch blocks. Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2015;40:52–7.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Thonnagith A, Elgueta MF, Chalermkitpanit P, Tran DQ, Finlayson RJ. Ultrasound-guided cervical medial branch blocks, a technical review. Int J Phys Med Rehabil. 2016.

    Google Scholar 

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anesthesia, Kelowna General Hospital, Kelowna, BC, Canada

    John-Paul B. Etheridge

  2. Alan Edwards Pain Management Unit, McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

    Roderick Finlayson

Authors
  1. John-Paul B. Etheridge
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  2. Roderick Finlayson
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anesthesia and Pain Management, Toronto Western Hopsital and Mount Sinai Hospital, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Philip Peng

  2. Alan Edwards Pain Management Unit, McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

    Roderick Finlayson

  3. Madi Pain Management Center, Jeonju, Korea (Republic of)

    Sang Hoon Lee

  4. Department of Anesthesia and Pain Management, Toronto Western Hopsital and Mount Sinai Hospital, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Anuj Bhatia

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Etheridge, JP.B., Finlayson, R. (2020). Cervical Medial Branch and Third Occipital Nerve Blocks. In: Peng, P., Finlayson, R., Lee, S., Bhatia, A. (eds) Ultrasound for Interventional Pain Management. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-18371-4_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-18371-4_13

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-18370-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-18371-4

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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