A piece of equipment that significantly improved the anesthetic technique used during breast surgery was donated to the San Martino hospital by the voluntary associations belonging to the Women’s Health Prevention Committee.
The acquisition was made with the proceeds from the organization of the well-known event “The wind in the hair” (2019 edition). The association brings together seven associations, tirelessly active in support of women’s health: Breast Operated Women (Ados), Hospital Volunteers (Avo), Italian Red Cross, Fidapa (Italian Federation of Women Arts, Professions and Business), International Inner Wheel, Lega Italian Fight against Tumors (Lilt), Soroptimist International.
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In 2019, breast surgery in Belluno treated 160 patients with breast cancer and over 120 with benign pathology. For two years now, patients who have undergone breast surgical procedures in Belluno have been able to benefit from the anesthetic expertise in performing pain relief blocks of the chest wall. This practice consists of a preliminary loco-regional anesthesia through the injection of local anesthetic between the bands of the muscles of the thoracic wall, in particular between the pectoral muscles and the muscles of the lateral thoracic wall where the thoracic nerves lodge and run. For the execution of this anesthetic procedure it is essential to use an ultrasound system, an equipment that uses ultrasounds and which allows the precise identification of the anatomical planes and therefore the targeted injection of the local anesthetic.
We then proceed with general anesthesia which will therefore be less deep or only with sedation, depending on the type of intervention to be performed. The equipment donated – a SonoSite ecotomograph – meets the requirements of excellent resolution, strength and handling. The advantages of the technique are of great importance: limitation of the use of intravenous drugs (in particular opioids) during surgery, with consequent attenuation / absence of nausea, vomiting and sleepiness; excellent control of post-operative pain, with reduction of discomfort and early resumption of mobilization; discharge in a shorter time from the hospital and high level of patient satisfaction.
In the meeting held today at San Martino with a representative of the Committee, the general manager thanked the Associations for the long process undertaken with constancy in the implementation of projects that have led to the improvement of diagnosis and treatment, in particular, in female pathologies.
