Topic

Ethyl chloride spray alternatives

Laura Elgie
Laura Elgie • 11 March 2022
11 comments

Hello friends and colleagues

Does anyone here use anything other than ethyl chloride spray to test the level of spinal/epidural blocks?  We'd like to move away from ethyl chloride in my department and I'm trying to find out about other options.

I've read about the cold sticks that are being used in Dorset, does anyone else use these?  Or use anything else?!

Thank you

Laura

Comments (11)

Louise Webster
Louise Webster • 2 years ago

Hi Laura

We use the good old fashioned ice cube! Easy to get from the freezer in the theatre staff coffee room. May not be as easy where you are and so the other thing we sometimes do is use the chlorhexidine spray that we use as antiseptic prior to neauraxial as they know how cold this is when it's sprayed on their back! 
Hope that's helpful!

Jason Lie
Jason Lie • 2 years ago

Hi Laura,

We are planning to trial the cool sticks in the coming months, after showing that it would provide significant financial & carbon footprint savings.

jason

Dr JMT Pierce
Dr JMT Pierce • 2 years ago

Dear Laura

I have for years now, tried to find ODP (ozone depleting potential) and GWP for ethyl chloride, but without success. Have you found any reliable evidence? If we do then we could calculate the scope 1 emissions of an abdominal spray vs other means.

Tom Pierce

Emily Parker
Emily Parker • 2 years ago

Hi everyone,

I am working with some doctors who are interested in doing a project on reducing the use of ethyl chloride spray for venepuncture analgesia in paediatrics. Has anyone already done any work on anything similar?

Thanks,

Emily

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