Galveston, Texas
Definition of Regional Anesthesia
Regional anesthesia, is anesthesia affecting a part of the body, such as a limb chest wall or abdominal wall. Regional anesthetic techniques can be divided into central and peripheral techniques. The central techniques include neuraxial blocks like epidural anesthesia, and spinal anesthesia. The peripheral techniques can be further divided into plexus blocks like e.g. the brachial plexus blocks for upper extremity, lumbo-sacral plexus blocks for lower extremity and paravertebral blocks for thoracic cage. These can be done as single shots blocks. They can also be done with a continuous catheter through which local anesthetics can be delivered for a prolonged period of time. e.g. continuous peripheral nerve block. All these regional anesthesia blocks can be used to provide anesthesia as well as analgesia (pain control). Last bust not least, regional anesthesia can be provided by injecting local anesthetics directly into the veins of an arm (provided the venous flow is impeded by a tourniquet.) This is called Intravenous Regional Anesthesia Techniques (IVRA) (Bier block).
