BACKGROUND
To obtain optimal results with stellate ganglion block, it is necessary to have a precise knowledge of the exact location of the stellate ganglion and its relationship to the upper thoracic and lower cervical ganglia, in the procedure, the landmark is C6 transverse process, and the drugs for sympathetic block is injected into it.
METHODS
We attempted to show the correlation between the height and the distance from C6 transverse process to stellate ganglion and T2 sympathetic ganglion, and respective means and standard deviations in 10 cadavers to estimate whether the height can be used as one of the factors to decide injection dosage for stellate ganglion block, or not.
RESULTS
The mean of height was 161.20 5.89 cm and the mean of the distance from left C6 transverse process to T2 sympathetic ganglion was 44.88 6.76, the mean of the distance from right C6 transverse process to stellate ganglion was 40.73 7.47 mm, and the correlation coefficient and regression equation were 0.29 and y=0.38 20.55, respectively, the mean of the distance from left C6 transverse process to T2 sympathetic ganglion was 65.02 11.12 mm, and the correlation coefficient and regression equation were 0.75 and y=1.42 164.01, respectively, the mean of the distance from right C6 transverse process to T2 sympathetic ganglion was 61.38 9.20 mm, and the correlation coefficient and regression equation were 0.74 and y=1.16 125.88, respectively.
CONCLUSIONS
It is concluded that we can used the height as one of effective factors to decide drug dosage for stellate ganglion block in Korean.