Background: Regional anesthesia techniques that provide analgesia to the entire lateral abdomen are limited. We present a modified external oblique intercostal block for complete lateral abdominal analgesia with a single injection. Case: We performed a modified version of the external oblique intercostal block unilaterally at the tenth rib along the mid-axillary line in three patients undergoing robot-assisted partial nephrectomy (two single injections, one catheter placement) and tested the technique on a cadaver with 20 ml of dye bilaterally. All patients reported good postoperative pain relief without complications and had consistent sensory coverage of the T8–T12 dermatomes from the anterior-to-posterior axillary line. Anatomical assessment confirmed consistent bilateral staining of the lateral cutaneous branches T8–T12. Conclusions The initial clinical success and anatomical findings of the modified approach to the external oblique intercostal block suggest that this technique may be an effective option for lateral abdominal analgesia.

Background: Regional anesthesia techniques that provide analgesia to the entire lateral abdomen are limited. We present a modified external oblique intercostal block for complete lateral abdominal analgesia with a single injection. Case: We performed a modified version of the external oblique intercostal block unilaterally at the tenth rib along the mid-axillary line in three patients undergoing robot-assisted partial nephrectomy (two single injections, one catheter placement) and tested the technique on a cadaver with 20 ml of dye bilaterally. All patients reported good postoperative pain relief without complications and had consistent sensory coverage of the T8–T12 dermatomes from the anterior-to-posterior axillary line. Anatomical assessment confirmed consistent bilateral staining of the lateral cutaneous branches T8–T12. Conclusions The initial clinical success and anatomical findings of the modified approach to the external oblique intercostal block suggest that this technique may be an effective option for lateral abdominal analgesia.

Background: Regional anesthesia techniques that provide analgesia to the entire lateral abdomen are limited. We present a modified external oblique intercostal block for complete lateral abdominal analgesia with a single injection. Case: We performed a modified version of the external oblique intercostal block unilaterally at the tenth rib along the mid-axillary line in three patients undergoing robot-assisted partial nephrectomy (two single injections, one catheter placement) and tested the technique on a cadaver with 20 ml of dye bilaterally. All patients reported good postoperative pain relief without complications and had consistent sensory coverage of the T8–T12 dermatomes from the anterior-to-posterior axillary line. Anatomical assessment confirmed consistent bilateral staining of the lateral cutaneous branches T8–T12. Conclusions The initial clinical success and anatomical findings of the modified approach to the external oblique intercostal block suggest that this technique may be an effective option for lateral abdominal analgesia.

Background: Regional anesthesia techniques that provide analgesia to the entire lateral abdomen are limited. We present a modified external oblique intercostal block for complete lateral abdominal analgesia with a single injection. Case: We performed a modified version of the external oblique intercostal block unilaterally at the tenth rib along the mid-axillary line in three patients undergoing robot-assisted partial nephrectomy (two single injections, one catheter placement) and tested the technique on a cadaver with 20 ml of dye bilaterally. All patients reported good postoperative pain relief without complications and had consistent sensory coverage of the T8–T12 dermatomes from the anterior-to-posterior axillary line. Anatomical assessment confirmed consistent bilateral staining of the lateral cutaneous branches T8–T12. Conclusions The initial clinical success and anatomical findings of the modified approach to the external oblique intercostal block suggest that this technique may be an effective option for lateral abdominal analgesia.

Objectives To identify the ankyrin-B gene mutations that cause long QT syndrome (LQTS) and determine the prevalence of such mutations in Japanese patients with LQTS. Methods We conducted a search for ankyrin-B gene mutation in 78 unrelated patients with LQTS (28 males and 50 females, aged 2 to 89 years). With informed consent from all the subjects and/or their parents, genomic DNA was purified from the white blood cells of the patients and amplified using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Single-strand conformational polymorphism (SSCP) analysis of the amplified DNA was performed to screen for mutations and aberrant SSCP products were isolated and sequenced by dye terminator cycle sequencing method using an automated fluorescent sequencer. PCR and restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis was carried out to further confirm the missense mutations by comparison with samples from 150 normal healthy individuals.Results We identified a T to A transition mutation at position 4 603 in exon 40, resulting in the substitution of arginine for a tryptophan at amino acid residue 1 535 (W1535R) in the regulatory domain of 220-kD ankyrin-B, which is a highly conserved domain shared by different species. Conclusions This novel missense mutation in the ankyrin-B gene may bea cause of type 4LQTS. Ankyrin-B gene mutation might not play the major role in LQTS in Japanese.