Ultrasound-guided Inferior Alveolar Nerve Block Study

Inferior alveolar nerve blocks are necessary to perform dental procedures in the mandible. The standard mandibular block (also known as the Halsted Technique, or the Inferior Alveolar Nerve Block) is based on intraoral landmarks but due to anatomical variation between patients, the failure rate, and therefore incomplete anaesthesia of the mandibular teeth, is high. Success rates have been reported anywhere from 66.2%-96.5% (Montagnese, 1984). Different approaches have been described to improve the success of blocking the inferior alveolar nerve but all have had varying rates of success (Blanton, 2002; Todorovic, 1986). Regardless, none are able to consistently and reliably block the inferior alveolar nerve one-hundred percent of the time.

Ultrasound is a valuable clinical tool to improve the accuracy of nerve blocks, and is also an important teaching tool. Ultrasound imaging is capable of identifying the relevant anatomy in the region of interest and has become common place during placement of spinal nerve blocks and many commonly recognized peripheral nerve blocks (Denny et Harrop-Griffiths, 2005). In studies of peripheral nerve blockade of the spine, the use of ultrasound should be able to reduce the number of needle passes required to achieve anaesthesia of a peripheral nerve and has been shown to reduce procedural times (Griffin et Nicholls, 2010). In addition, onset of sensory blockade is faster because of more intimate proximity of the needle tip to the nerve. Finally, the ability to visualize, and thereby ensure, the spread of local anaesthetic around the nerve also aids in the speed of onset of the block (Griffin et Nicholls, 2010). However, ultrasound has yet to be used successfully in intraoral trigeminal nerve blocks.

While Hannan et al. (1999) did compare ultrasonography to traditional landmarking for the inferior alveolar nerve block, there was no increase in success of the block. It should be noted that Hannan et al. was unable to visualize the nerve and instead used the inferior alveolar artery as a surrogate landmark to approximate proximity to the inferior alveolar nerve. Since the study by Hannan et al., there have been marked improvements to ultrasound hardware, i.e. transducers, and software, i.e. processors, to improve resolution and increase the ability to differentiate objects in soft tissue, specifically the neural structures from the vascular structures.

The inferior alveolar nerve itself can now be visualized by ultrasound in unembalmed human cadavers and can be accurately targeted with a needle by placing dye around the inferior alveolar nerve and confirmed by dissection performed by a blinded anatomist (Chanpong, 2013). The same study had a clinician consistently identify the inferior alveolar nerve bilaterally in 20 living individuals by ultrasound. In addition, according to the satisfaction survey performed, the intraoral ultrasound probe was just as comfortable as a bite block placed on the contralateral side. Based on a 10 point Likert scale (1 being very uncomfortable and 10 being very comfortable), the ultrasound probe scored a mean of 7.3 and the bite block a 7.5, and all 20 volunteers were able to complete bilateral scans. Given that the inferior alveolar nerve block can be easily visualized by ultrasound, the accuracy of needle placement may be significantly improved.

Adjacent to the inferior alveolar nerve are the inferior alveolar artery and the inferior alveolar vein. The risk of inadvertent vascular puncture of these vessels while performing an Inferior Alveolar Nerve Block has been reported to be anywhere from 2.6% to 30% (Malamed, 2013). By being able to guide the needle using ultrasound, the incidence of their puncture, and incidence of nerve puncture, may also be reduced.