Essentials of Regional Anesthesia

The management of pain can often be achieved by medications, physical therapies, or by various procedural techniques that have evolved in recent decades. With the trend towards more outpatient surgeries and less invasive surgeries to decrease perioperative risk, perioperative time, and costs, the practice of anesthesia is evolving to utilize regional anesthesia techniques both for inpatients and outpatients. Regional anesthesia is being performed for outpatient surgeries, obstetric anesthesia, trauma, chronic pain states, and for acute post-operative pain management. Therefore, it is paramount for physicians and nurses practicing anesthesia to understand the essentials of regional anesthesia, its evolving techniques, and appropriate utilization of modern equipment and technology to provide care safely.