The RIVANNA Accuro automatic spinal navigation system boosted the accuracy of epidural and spinal anesthesia placement when compared to traditional landmark techniques, new research shows.
A pocket-sized ultrasound system, Accuro leverages algorithms to automatically pinpoint spinal midline and epidural depth and trajectory.
Researchers presented three abstracts on the topic at the Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology annual meeting, held from May 10 to May 14 in Bellevue, Wash.
University of Virginia Medical Center abstract
Richmond-based UVA researchers compared anesthesiology residents' achievement placing spinal anesthesia in C-section patients with Accuro guidance versus conventional methods. The residents were not trained in ultrasound reading and received a 10-minute Accuro training session.
For those residents with prior spinal anesthesia experience, Accuro improved first-attempt needle placement by more than 100 percent in patients with a high body mass index. Of these residents, those using conventional placement methods had to redirect needles nearly twice as much as those using Accuro.
Stanford University Medical Center abstract
California-based Stanford researchers saw that Accuro imaging technology found the location and depth for optimal epidural anesthesia administration with the same accuracy as interpreters reading traditional ultrasound images.
Accuro pinpointed the correct spinal interspace for needle insertion in 94 percent of patients.
Rutgers-New Jersey Medical School abstract
Newark-based Rutgers-New Jersey Medical School researchers conducted a case study on a pregnant patient with severe scoliosis. She received epidural anesthesia under Accuro guidance, which pinpointed bony landmarks and the optimal spinal interspaces for anesthesia. Surgeons performed the procedure with first-time needle placement and a single manipulation.