Clark, Brittney M.

Intraoperative tourniquet-related pain is well recognized by anesthesiologists, but postoperative tourniquet-related pain has received little attention. We present a patient who underwent a total knee arthroplasty under general anesthesia and an adductor canal nerve block. She complained of intractable thigh pain postoperatively. Lidocaine 5% patches completely resolved her postoperative tourniquet-related pain.

Baastrup disease is a condition where spinous processes form painful pseudoarticulations. We present a patient with midline axial back pain consistent with Baastrup disease confirmed by computed tomography, which revealed degenerative changes along the opposing surfaces of the spinous processes at L1–2 and L2–3. Local anesthetic and steroid interspinous injections lost their effectiveness over time. She underwent successful interspinous radiofrequency lesioning, which has not been previously described in the literature. At 4 months follow-up, she reported complete pain relief.