2024/05/22 by Philipp Gerner, Veena Graff, Melody Herman +1 · 1 voice
Engineering · Medicine · #Anesthesia and Sedative Agents #Ultrasound and Hyperthermia Applications #Ultrasound in Clinical Applications
paper · doi:10.1136/rapm-2024-105519
openalex publication_date 2024/05/22 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
Ultrasound guidance has become ubiquitous with regional anesthesia, but little consistency exists on necessary ultrasound probe hygiene and sterility barriers. Fear of possible infection has led to calls for universal use of sterile ultrasound probe covers. Available data seems to suggest that single-shot peripheral nerve blocks have a low infectious risk. The widespread use of single-use disposable probe covers would carry an associated cost, increased environmental impact, and little evidence to suggest that they are effective at preventing infection if proper technique is used. While various parties have labeled single-shot nerve blocks as a sterile procedure, in practice, it is a clean technique. In this article, we argue that mandating the use of probe covers is unnecessary and that it should be left to the anesthesiologist to determine what type of anti-infection equipment is necessary for single-shot nerve blocks based on their practice situation and expertize.