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Journal of Anaesthesiology, Clinical Pharmacology logoLink to Journal of Anaesthesiology, Clinical Pharmacology
. 2023 Mar 17;39(1):163. doi: 10.4103/joacp.joacp_79_23

Uniform vocabulary across regional anesthetic literature: Call for action

Rohan Magoon 1,
PMCID: PMC10220204  PMID: 37250249

Dear Editor,

The American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine (ASRA) and the European Society of Regional Anaesthesia and Pain Therapy (ESRA)-led Delphi consensus proposes a standardized nomenclature for the abdominal, chest wall, and paraspinal regional techniques.[1] Despite the worthy recommendations of the group on the use of consensus inferences for clinical–academic communication, recent studies continue to use the original connotations; for instance, the pectoral nerve II (PECS II) block.[1,2] As described by Blanco et al., the PECS II block involves PECS I block by default (i.e. an interpectoral plane [IPP] injection) in addition to a pectoserratus plane (PSP) injection.[3] Aiming for augmented clarity, it is now recommended to refer PECS II block as a combined IPP-PSP block with the PECS I being an isolated IPP block.[3] The former’s merit is highlighted in the fact that some researchers have erroneously described a combined IPP-PSP injection as PECS I + PECS II block, failing to acknowledge the dual injection in PECS II.[4] The need for a uniform vocabulary across the regional anesthetic literature is reemphasized for the sake of effective teaching–training in the discipline, hence the call for action.

Financial support and sponsorship

Nil.

Conflicts of interest

There are no conflicts of interest.

References

  • 1.El-Boghdadly K, Wolmarans M, Stengel AD, Albrecht E, Chin KJ, Elsharkawy H, et al. Standardizing nomenclature in regional anesthesia:An ASRA-ESRA Delphi consensus study of abdominal wall, paraspinal, and chest wall blocks. Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2021;46:571–80. doi: 10.1136/rapm-2020-102451. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 2.Al-Touny SA, Abd Elnasser AG, Al-Taher EM, El-lilly AA. Analgesic effect of ketorolac as an adjuvant to bupivacaine in ultrasoundguided pectoral nerve block (I+II) for patients undergoing modified radical mastectomy:A Randomized controlled clinical trial. J Anaesthesiol Clin Pharmacol. 2023 doi: 10.4103/joacp.joacp_149_21. doi:10.4103/joacp.joacp_149_21. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 3.Elkassabany NM, Mariano ER, Kopp S, Albrecht E, Wolmarans M, El-Boghdadly K. PECS2 or PICK2. Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2022;47:450–1. doi: 10.1136/rapm-2022-103657. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 4.Hong B, Oh C, Jo Y, Lee S, Park S, Kim YH. Current evidence of ultrasound-guided fascial plane blocks for cardiac surgery:A narrative literature review. Korean J Anesthesiol. 2022;75:460–72. doi: 10.4097/kja.22564. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

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