Lurie Children’s Hospital pioneers ultrasound-guided nerve freezing to eliminate prolonged postoperative pain in microtia repair.
Key Details
- 1Lurie Children’s Hospital is first worldwide to use nerve freezing to prevent months of pain after ear reconstruction for microtia.
- 2Ultrasound-guided, minimally invasive procedure takes 20 minutes and targets the rib harvest site.
- 3Over 30 patients have benefited: reduced opioid use and shorter hospital stays observed.
- 4First cases published in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (DOI: 10.1097/PRS.0000000000013110).
- 5Ongoing study will compare outcomes with and without the nerve freezing method.
Why It Matters
This innovation demonstrates how interventional radiology, specifically ultrasound guidance, can dramatically improve surgical recovery and pain management. It highlights an important advancement in pediatric procedural care and the expanding role of imaging professionals.
Source
EurekAlert
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