title: [Knotting of a catheter in the plexus brachialis. A rare complication].
abstract: For the repair of an open injury to the hand, a continuous axillary block was performed in a 40- year-old male patient. Slight resistance was experienced during advancement of the catheter. Adequate surgical anaesthesia developed after the injection of 40 ml of a bupivacaine/prilocaine mixture. For postoperative analgesia an infusion of bupivacaine 0.25% was started. Three days later the removal of the catheter proved to be difficult due to a knot in the distal part of the catheter. This seems to be the first report of a knot in a catheter used for continuous axillary plexus block.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Anästhesie und Reanimation, Kantonsspital Luzern, Lucerne, Switzerland. tobias.huebner@ksl.ch
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hübner
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gerber
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001917:Brachial Plexus; D002404:Catheterization / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004868:Equipment Failure; D006230:Hand Injuries / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009407:Nerve Block / Q000295:instrumentation*; D019637:Orthopedic Procedures