{Reference Type}: Journal Article
{Title}: Standardizing nomenclature in regional anesthesia: an ASRA-ESRA Delphi consensus study of upper and lower limb nerve blocks.
{Author}: El-Boghdadly K;Albrecht E;Wolmarans M;Mariano ER;Kopp S;Perlas A;Thottungal A;Gadsden J;Tulgar S;Adhikary S;Aguirre J;Agur AMR;Altıparmak B;Barrington MJ;Bedforth N;Blanco R;Bloc S;Boretsky K;Bowness J;Breebaart M;Burckett-St Laurent D;Carvalho B;Chelly JE;Chin KJ;Chuan A;Coppens S;Costache I;Dam M;Desmet M;Dhir S;Egeler C;Elsharkawy H;Bendtsen TF;Fox B;Franco CD;Gautier PE;Grant SA;Grape S;Guheen C;Harbell MW;Hebbard P;Hernandez N;Hogg RMG;Holtz M;Ihnatsenka B;Ilfeld BM;Ip VHY;Johnson RL;Kalagara H;Kessler P;Kwofie MK;Le-Wendling L;Lirk P;Lobo C;Ludwin D;Macfarlane AJR;Makris A;McCartney C;McDonnell J;McLeod GA;Memtsoudis SG;Merjavy P;Moran EML;Nader A;Neal JM;Niazi AU;Njathi-Ori C;O'Donnell BD;Oldman M;Orebaugh SL;Parras T;Pawa A;Peng P;Porter S;Pulos BP;Sala-Blanch X;Saporito A;Sauter AR;Schwenk ES;Sebastian MP;Sidhu N;Sinha SK;Soffin EM;Stimpson J;Tang R;Tsui BCH;Turbitt L;Uppal V;van Geffen GJ;Vermeylen K;Vlassakov K;Volk T;Xu JL;Elkassabany NM;
{Journal}: Reg Anesth Pain Med
{Volume}: 0
{Issue}: 0
{Year}: 2023 Nov 22
{Factor}: 5.564
{DOI}: 10.1136/rapm-2023-104884
{Abstract}: BACKGROUND: Inconsistent nomenclature and anatomical descriptions of regional anesthetic techniques hinder scientific communication and engender confusion; this in turn has implications for research, education and clinical implementation of regional anesthesia. Having produced standardized nomenclature for abdominal wall, paraspinal and chest wall regional anesthetic techniques, we aimed to similarly do so for upper and lower limb peripheral nerve blocks.
METHODS: We performed a three-round Delphi international consensus study to generate standardized names and anatomical descriptions of upper and lower limb regional anesthetic techniques. A long list of names and anatomical description of blocks of upper and lower extremities was produced by the members of the steering committee. Subsequently, two rounds of anonymized voting and commenting were followed by a third virtual round table to secure consensus for items that remained outstanding after the first and second rounds. As with previous methodology, strong consensus was defined as ≥75% agreement and weak consensus as 50%-74% agreement.
RESULTS: A total of 94, 91 and 65 collaborators participated in the first, second and third rounds, respectively. We achieved strong consensus for 38 names and 33 anatomical descriptions, and weak consensus for five anatomical descriptions. We agreed on a template for naming peripheral nerve blocks based on the name of the nerve and the anatomical location of the blockade and identified several areas for future research.
CONCLUSIONS: We achieved consensus on nomenclature and anatomical descriptions of regional anesthetic techniques for upper and lower limb nerve blocks, and recommend using this framework in clinical and academic practice. This should improve research, teaching and learning of regional anesthesia to eventually improve patient care.