Abstract

In recent decades, a number of studies have attempted to determine whether regional anaesthesia offers convincing benefits over general anaesthesia. However, today we interpret meta-analyses more carefully, and it remains unclear whether regional anaesthesia reduces mortality. However, regional anaesthesia offers superior analgesia over opioid-based analgesia, and a significant reduction in postoperative pain is still a worthwhile outcome. Recent developments in technical aspects of regional anaesthesia have the potential to provide significant advantages for many patients in all age groups. Moreover, studies focusing on specific outcomes have shown benefits for regional anaesthesia used for surgery and postoperative analgesia.

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Publisher Full Text

Authors

Kettner SC, Willschke H, Marhofer P

Institution

Department of Anaesthesia, Intensive Care Medicine and Pain Therapy, Medical University of Vienna, A-1090 Vienna, Austria.

Source

British journal of anaesthesia 107 Suppl 1: 2011 Dec pg i90-5

MeSH

Anesthesia, Conduction
Anesthesia, Epidural
Anesthesia, General
Anesthesia, Spinal
Humans
Nerve Block
Pain, Postoperative
Risk Factors
Treatment Outcome

Pub Type(s)

Journal Article
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

Language

eng

PubMed ID

22156274