Motor nerve blocks with anesthetic drug for local anesthesia are commonly used in physical and rehabilitation medicine (PRM), especially in the field of spasticity. Guidelines in this context are currently lacking.

Eighteen experts selected on the basis of their recognized experience by the scientific committees of the French PRM (SOFMER) and Anesthesia and Intensive care (SFAR) societies were invited to work and propose guidelines for the use of loco-regional anesthetic drug for motor nerve blocks in PRM setting. Eight issues were addressed: which neural blocks for which indications; drugs and contraindications; medical survey and attitude in case of adverse event; injection and guidance material; patient preparation and pain relief; efficacy assessment; patient information; education of PRM physiatrists. The Medline, Cochrane and Embase databases for the period 1999 to 2018 were consulted and 355 papers analyzed. The drafts were commented then approved by the whole group using electronic vote, before final approval by scientific committee of each society.

No scientific evidence emerged from the literature. Thus, these guidelines are mainly based on the opinion of the expert panel. Guidelines for each issue are reported with the main points of arguments. The main question deals with the recommendation about doses for each drug: for lidocaine – up to 2mg/kg – “check contraindications, emergency truck available, no need of previous anesthetic consultation nor presence of anesthetic physician”; for ropivacaine – up to 1.5mg/kg, with a maximum of 100mg – the same but after intravenous line. Beyond these doses, SFAR guidelines have to be applied with the need of anesthetic physician.

These are the first organizational guidelines devoted to increase the security of motor nerve block use in PRM settings.