Ultrasound used in pain management at Leeds

Dr Louise Lynch with the SonoSite S-Nerve

At St James’s Institute of Oncology, part of St James Hospital in Leeds, a SonoSite S­Nerve point-of-care ultrasound system is used to perfect nerve blocks that can significantly relieve chronic pain in cancer patients.

Consultant in chronic and cancer pain management at the Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust Dr Louise Lynch explained: “The S-Nerve produces high quality images giving me far better imaging capabilities than before.

“I frequently use it for brachial plexus blocks on oncology patients, where my principal aim is not only to perform a local anaesthetic block, but also to infiltrate steroid around the nerves and the tumour.

“The S-Nerve makes it possible for me to see the nerves I am injecting around. For example, I can see the upper roots of the plexus block, rather than just the axillary ones, for interscalene or supraclavicular blocks.”

See the full report on page 38 of the October 2010 issue of RAD Magazine.