B. Braun to become exclusive U.S. distributor of BSmart injection pressure monitor for PNBs

B. Braun Medical Inc. (B.Braun), the market leader in Regional Anesthesia (RA) announced today that it will become the exclusive U.S. distributor of the BSmart™ injection pressure monitor for peripheral nerve blocks (PNBs) from Concert Medical, LLC. BSmart is the first disposable monitor for measuring of injection pressure during administration of PNBs.

"We want to be the customer's first choice for delivering RA safely and effectively," said Joe Cleary, Group Product Director of Pain Control Marketing at B.Braun. "In the coming months, B.Braun will highlight ways to integrate complementary monitoring modalities (injection pressure, ultrasound and stimulation) and share the benefits. We call it ISM, or Injection Safety Monitoring," added Cleary.

Practitioners already document resistance to injection, however, objective pressure monitoring is a relatively new concept.

"Monitoring a clinically relevant and objective pressure in real-time may help prevent an injection into a fascicle or against the epineurium before it occurs," said Jeff Gadsden MD, Associate Professor of Anesthesiology at Duke University. "We know in canine sciatic nerves that intraneural needle placement and high injection pressure lead to severe fascicular injury and persistent neurological deficits. We also know that objective pressure monitoring reliably detects needle-nerve contact at 15 psi in 97% of cases in patients undergoing interscalene plexus block. This is relevant as initiation of flow against the epineurium may result in an intraneural injection or nerve inflammation, and consequent nerve damage," Dr. Gadsden added.

In the past, documentation of the resistance was subjective and relied on the "learned feel" and experience of the provider.

"When injection pressure matters, an objective and quantifiable method of monitoring and documenting injection pressure has the potential to provide more assurance than the subjective syringe-hand-feel technique. When anesthesia providers were asked to perform a simulated injection using a syringe and needle assembly, the perception of appropriate force (pressure) and rate of injection varied widely. These findings indicate that the syringe–feel method of assessing injection force is inconsistent. Furthermore, in a nerve block simulation utilizing actual animal tissue, practitioners were unable to correctly identify intraneural injection by syringe–feel technique," added Dr. Gadsden.

What to expect at ASA
Visit B.Braun booth #721 at ASA to learn how B.Braun can help improve your patient and facility outcomes with RA.

1. Gain hands on experience with a BSmart simulator, and learn how to integrate pressure monitoring, ultrasound and stimulation modalities as well as the benefits.
2. Visualize Contiplex^® Echo under ultrasound, and gain first-hand experience with Contiplex C, catheter-over-needle system. Learn more about Clinical Product Training, delivered by nationally recognized MD experts.
3. Learn how B.Braun can help consolidate and standardize your RA products.

In addition, attendees will also learn how they can have their compounded drug needs met through an FDA registered 503B CAPS^® outsourcing facility. B.Braun's broad portfolio of RA products, infusion pumps, and anesthesia IV administration sets will also be featured at the booth. This year's ANESTHESIOLOGY™ 2014 annual meeting will be held at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, LA, from October 11^th-15^th.

BSmart will be available from B.Braun in Q1 2015.