A gloved clinician holding the Nordstar catheter device

Better pain treatment is possible

A nerve block catheter as simple as a single injection, designed to give surgical patients days of opioid-free pain relief.

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The problem

The challenge with current catheters

Nerve block catheters are proven to provide high-quality pain relief for days when used right. Yet after decades of clinical use, catheters still don’t live up to their full potential.

Complex to place. Placement takes 17 to 27 minutes.¹
Experts only. Only few anaesthesiologists and institutions utilise the full potential of catheters, due to a high skill barrier.
High failure rate. Catheters slip out of position when the patient moves, and stop working in 10 to 73% of cases.²

Source 1: placement takes 17 to 27 minutes
Source 2: failure in 10 to 73% of cases

A surgical team at work in an operating room

Nordstar’s Catheter

Done in <5 min

From needle to catheter in three steps, with one hand on the device and the other on the ultrasound probe.

1Step 1 of 3

Echogenic needle tip

Guide to the nerve using ultrasound

Insert the needle and guide it to the nerve under ultrasound, just as you would for a single-shot block.

Illustration: one hand holds the ultrasound probe while the other guides the Nordstar needle to the nerve; a close-up shows the needle tip beside the nerve

2Step 2 of 3

Preloaded catheter

Push the button — catheter placed

With the tip in position, one push of the button places the catheter where the tip is. Your other hand never leaves the probe.

Illustration: the clinician presses the button on the device; the close-up shows the catheter being placed from the needle tip at the nerve

3Step 3 of 3

Internal fixation

Designed to stay in place

Withdraw the needle. The catheter stays in place, ready for days of pain relief.

Watch the video

Illustration: the needle is withdrawn, leaving the catheter in place; the close-up shows the catheter tip staying in place at the nerve

Jeff Gadsden, MD Chief of Regional Anesthesia, Duke University

See how it works

One device, one hand, one push of a button:
from needle insertion to catheter placement.

A gloved hand holding the Nordstar device over a surgical drape

Nordstar compared to traditional catheters

Features of the Nordstar catheter compared to traditional nerve block catheters
Feature		Traditional catheters
Fast procedure (<5 min)
Accurate procedure
Reliable procedure

Where it fits

A catheter made for adductor canal blocks

Each of these procedures already uses a nerve block.
Nordstar just changes the catheter.

Knee

Adductor canal block for knee replacement, with 790,000 surgeries a year in the US.
Foot & ankle

Popliteal sciatic block for foot and ankle surgery, with about 135,000 ankle fractures treated in US emergency departments a year.
Shoulder

Interscalene block for shoulder surgery, including 200,000 shoulder replacements a year in the US.
Hip & knee

Femoral block for hip fracture and knee surgery, with nearly 300,000 hip fracture hospitalisations a year in the US.
Arm & hand

Infraclavicular block for elbow, forearm, wrist and hand surgery, with more than 640,000 wrist fractures seen in US emergency departments a year.

As fast and precise as a single-shot block

In a randomised crossover study, 22 anaesthesiologists at two Danish hospitals each placed a single-shot block and a Nordstar catheter on a standardised phantom model. None had used the Nordstar catheter before. After a five-minute demonstration, they placed the catheter as quickly and as precisely as a single-shot block.

Lange et al. 2026, submitted for publication.

Read the abstract

Time on task (needle in to needle out) Mean, lower is faster

Nordstar28.8 s

Single-shot27.8 s

Difference 1.0 s (95% CI −5.6 to 3.7 s). Non-inferiority margin was 30 s.

Accuracy from target Median, lower is more precise

Nordstar1.3 mm

Single-shot1.0 mm

No significant difference (P = 0.852).

Ease of use Median score out of 7

Nordstar6 of 7

Single-shot6 of 7

Rated the same for both (P = 0.655).

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