Abstract
Needle-nerve injury and an intrafascicular injection of local anesthetic are relatively uncommon occurrences but may result in devastating complications after peripheral nerve blocks. Numerous case reports and case series have been published on disabling neurologic consequences after intramuscular injection of penicillin intraneurally into the sciatic nerve. Likewise, studies in experimental animals have documented neurotoxic effects of intraneural injections of local anesthetics. An inadvertent intrafascicular injection may lead to a variety of nerve injuries, some of which may result in permanent neurologic injury. Intrafascicular injection of local anesthetic agents, in particular, leads to at least some degree of nerve damage, typically characterized by demyelination and Wallerian degeneration.
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Vuckovic-Hasanbegovic, I., Vandepitte, C., Hadzic, A. (2015). Histologic Features of Needle-Nerve and Intraneural Injection Injury as Seen on Light Microscopy. In: Reina, M., De Andrés, J., Hadzic, A., Prats-Galino, A., Sala-Blanch, X., van Zundert, A. (eds) Atlas of Functional Anatomy for Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-09522-6_14
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-09522-6_14
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