Luz Adriana Galindo
Professor of Anesthesiology at the Universidad del Bosque in Bogotá, Colombia
Posters & Accepted Abstracts: Surgery Curr Res
Statement of the Problem: The use of the test dose in regional anesthesia is not standardized, and there is no consensus regarding what dose it should be or about the anesthetic or type of drug to be used. Moreover, many anesthesiologists do not use it routinely in their practice. Objetive: The objective is to review the uses of the test dose for regional anesthesia, its indications and utility, te drugs used, and positive signs. Methodology: It has been made a non-systematic search was conducted in medical database publications including MedLine, SciELO and Embase. Results: The application of the test dose before giving the full injection of the local anesthetic helps in detecting the inadvertent placement of the needle or catheter in the intravascular or the subarachnoid spaces. Conclusions: The test dose must be used every time critical doses of a local anesthetic are utilized or when normal doses are given to patients with risk factors. The test dose is not necessary in labor analgesia.
