Ultrasound Guided Local Anesthetic Block: Thoracolumbar Interfascial Plane

Ultrasound Guided Local Anesthetic Field Block Within the Thoracolumbar Interfascial Plane: Distribution of Pain and Temperature Sensation Loss in Healthy Volunteers

The purpose of the study is to determine the effectiveness of a new approach to numbing (anesthetizing) nerves in the back and to measure how far the area of anesthesia extends on the skin of the back.

This research aims to define a novel field-infiltration nerve block. We will use ultrasound guidance to inject local anesthesia into the potential space between the muscle bodies of the erector spinae. The medial branch of the dorsal ramus of each thoracolumbar nerve innervates the muscle and skin overlying the erector spinae muscle to the midline. By anesthetizing each nerve we believe minimally invasive (1-2 level) back surgery may be completed with less pain and preclude the side-effect laden opioid analgesics.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Healthy Adult

Exclusion Criteria:

• Pregnant women (a urine pregnancy test will be done on all females of childbearing age)
• Liver dysfunction
• Elderly
• Impaired cardiovascular function
• Individuals on amiodarone or history of back surgery
• History of medical allergy to local amide type local anesthetics
• Medical allergy to chlorhexidine
• History of paresthesias
• Inability to lay flat
• Home oxygen requirement
• History of seizures
• Only adults will be eligible.