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Background: Pulsed radiofrequency treatment (PRF) applied to the suprascapular nerve may provide pain relief for patients suffering from shoulder pain as described in three case series., Aims: The effect of PRF to the suprascapular nerve was retrospectively analysed on 28 patients with shoulder pain lasting longer than 1 month, with a 6-month follow-up. Group A was treated with PRF and local anaesthetics only while group B was treated with PRF, local anaesthetic and steroid. Pain scores were evaluated before and after the procedure and at 1, 3 and 6 months., Results: More than 50% of patients in both groups had significant pain relief after 3 months. No major, but only one minor complication occurred., Conclusions: Our results suggest that the analgesic effects of PRF last more than 3 months in the majority of patients. The addition of steroid to the PRF treatment appears to have no benefit.

Background: Continuous paravertebral block (PVB) has been successfully used for postoperative analgesia in children. However, data regarding the efficacy of a single injection technique for major renal surgery are still lacking., Methods: Following the ethics committee approval and parent informed consent, 24 children (median 10.3 months; range: 2.9-26.8) undergoing major renal surgery were included in a prospective observational pilot study. Following a standardized general anesthetic the patients were administered a single injection low thoracic PVB (loss-of-resistance technique; 0.5 ml.kg(-1) of levobupivacaine 2.5 mg.ml(-1) with epinephrine 5 mug.ml(-1)) at the end of surgery. Postoperative pain was assessed by Face, Legs, Activity, Cry, Consolability (FLACC) score at predetermined time points and in case of apparent patients' discomfort during the first 12 postoperative hours. The duration of postoperative analgesia was defined as the interval between PVB and the first supplemental administration of a rescue opioid analgesic. The incidence of complications and postoperative vomiting (POV) was also recorded., Results: A successful PVB was achieved in 23/24 patients (95.8%). The median duration of the block was 600 min (range: 180-720 min) with 10 children not requiring any supplemental analgesia during the 12-h observation period. Vascular puncture was observed in 2/24 children (8.3%) and POV occurred in 4/24 children (16.7%). All complications were considered minor and did not influence recovery., Conclusions: Single injection PVB provided clinically relevant postoperative analgesia in children undergoing major renal surgery.