title: An assessment of subarachnoid block: a survey of 175 articles and recommendations for improvement.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Assessment of subarachnoid block, particularly the sensory component, may be incomplete and influence the conclusions of studies involving subarachnoid anesthesia, as well as their application in routine clinical practice.
  
  
  METHODS
  We manually searched 175 articles concerning subarachnoid block published from 2006 to 2009 in 8 anesthesia journals to determine the components of the subarachnoid anesthetic procedure recorded as well as the extent of sympathetic and motor block.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The level of subarachnoid injection was reported in 86% of the articles, baricity in 84%, concentration of local anesthetic in 77%, patient's position in 75%, needle size in 77%, and needle type in 71%. The stimulus used for assessing sensory block was reported in 69% of the articles; 17% described the block as unilateral or bilateral, and 11% described the lines along which the stimulus was applied. Motor and sympathetic block were assessed in 40% and 18% of studies, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest incomplete description of tools and assessment of sensory block in studies involving subarachnoid anesthesia. We propose a checklist to facilitate a more standardized evaluation of the extent of subarachnoid anesthesia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Aretaieio Hospital, 76 Vassilissis Sofias Ave., 11528 Athens, Greece. fassoula@aretaieio.uoa.gr
authors.forename: Argyro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fassoulaki
authors.forename: Konstantinos
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Chondrogiannis
authors.forename: Anteia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Paraskeva
mesh_terms: D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D009407:Nerve Block / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic / Q000592:standards*; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic / Q000379:methods; D013346:Subarachnoid Space / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology