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A novel marker for identifying and studying the membranes, barriers, and compartments surrounding peripheral nerves microscopically

Recent anatomical discoveries indicate the importance of identifying membranes and compartments surrounding peripheral nerves into which local anesthetic agents can be injected and continuous nerve block catheters placed during regional anesthetic procedures. However, current markers used in anatomical studies have multiple drawbacks, specifically extravasation into noninjected locations, which can result in inadequate treatment. We studied a readily‐available new marker, heparinized blood solution (HBS), which is easy to identify by microscopy and can remain in the nerve compartment into which it is deposited without distorting the tissue. We collected blood from 22 patients and prepared it as HBS. This was then injected into four fresh cadavers as in routine clinical practice for ultrasound‐guided nerve blocks to form a so‐called “doughnut” by “hydro‐dissecting” at 32 sites. All samples, including nerves and neighboring tissues, were then prepared and examined by light microscopy. Although no deliberate intraneural injection was attempted, the marker was identified inside all the nerve compartments except the fascicles. Apart from leaking through the needle entry site in some instances, there was no extravasation of the HBS into neighboring nerve compartments in either direction. The tissues were not distorted and the erythrocytes did not form a thrombus. Nerve membranes and compartments could be clearly identified with routine staining. This technique enabled us to study the longitudinal and circumferential spread in all nerve compartments and to collect data for better interpretation of factors influencing an anesthetic nerve block and situations in which complications could possibly arise. HBS seemed superior to other markers because it did not leave the compartments into which it had been injected, did not distort the tissue, and was easily visible under the light microscope. Clin. Anat., 31:1050–1057, 2018. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.