Use of perfusion index from pulse oximetry to determine efficacy of stellate ganglion block

摘要

BackgroundStellate ganglion block (SGB) is a widely used procedure for treatment of pain in the head and upper body, but the clinical signs used to verify the effectiveness of SGB can be ambiguous or variable in some patients. We observed the chronological changes in perfusion index (PI) from pulse oximetry to determine if these changes correlated with the clinical signs associated with an effective SGB. We hypothesized that PI could provide an easy method to assess the effectiveness of SGB.