title: Asleep-Awake-Asleep general anesthesia for open cervical rhizotomy: case report and description of the technique.
abstract: The authors describe the technique of Asleep-Awake-Asleep anesthesia for open dorsal rhizotomy in a 78-year-old female patient, admitted to the hospital with intractable pain in the distribution of C2 dermatome following a road traffic accident. The patient was anesthetised and the rhizotomy performed using the intradural approach. Anesthesia was conducted by Total Intravenous Anesthesia using a Target Controlled Infusion system. The patient was awakened twice intraoperatively to verify success of the rhizotomy. Complete pain relief was obtained and maintained at 1 year follow-up.
authors.affiliation: Royal London Hospital, Whitechapel, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: O'Shea
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Sarwat
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Sutcliffe
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic; D000368:Aged; D000768:Anesthesia, General / Q000379:methods*; D002574:Cervical Vertebrae; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010148:Intractable Pain / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery*; D019051:Rhizotomy; D014851:Wakefulness