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Book Review: Atlas of Ultrasound-Guided Procedures in Interventional Pain Management

Narouze SN, ed. Atlas of Ultrasound-Guided Procedures in Interventional Pain Management.  Springer 2011, 372 pages, 465 illustration, $189.00.

In 1941, Dr. Karl Theodore Dussik of Austria introduced the idea of using ultrasound waves as a diagnostic tool. Over the next few decades he, along with others like Professor Ian Donald of Scotland, developed the practical technology and applications of ultrasound in the field of medicine. Since then, ultrasound (US) has become progressively more useful across a wide range of medical specialties, for both diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. US is quickly becoming the imaging modality of choice to guide practitioners in pain management and musculoskeletal interventions. Although fluoroscopy has long been a mainstay in image-guidance for such procedures, US provides an attractive alternative given its superior soft tissue resolution, allowance of real-time needle guidance, absence of iodinated contrast and lack of ionizing radiation.

The Atlas of Ultrasound-Guided Procedures in Interventional Pain Management by Narouze et al. is a comprehensive review of the principles of US-guidance as an aid in current pain management practices. It is divided into six parts and 30 chapters arranged by system and discipline. Leading experts in each discipline have contributed to this body of work, providing an extensive literature review encompassing each chapter. This text is meant to serve as a user-friendly manual, covering the anatomy, treatment rationale, and technical aspects of US-guided interventional pain management procedures. Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at AJNR Blog*

At-Home Hand Training For Stroke Rehabilitation


Students at Northeastern University are developing electronic gloves to help post stroke patients recover their motor skills. The Angle Tracking and Location at Home System (ATLAS) bimanual rehabilitation glove has sensors and a feedback mechanism that interfaces with a computer to allow hand training at home. Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at Medgadget*

Does Poverty Help To Explain Medical Practice Variation?

MilwaukeeIs poverty the major factor underlying geographic variation in health care? It assuredly is. There is abundant evidence that poverty is strongly associated with poor health status, greater per capita health care spending, more hospital readmissions and poorer outcomes. It is the single strongest factor in variation in health care and the single greatest contributor to “excess” health care spending. It should be the focus of health care reform but, sadly, many provisions in the current bills will worsen the problem.

Much of this is discussed elsewhere on this blog and in our recent “Report to The President and The Congress.” In this posting, I would simply like to tap into your common sense. We all know that poverty is geographic. There are wealthy neighborhoods and impoverished ones, rich states and poor ones, developed countries and developing ones.  Sometimes poverty is regional, as in Mississippi, but sometimes it’s confined to “poverty ghettos,”  as in the South Bronx. Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at PHYSICIANS and HEALTH CARE REFORM Commentaries and Controversies*

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