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Impact of Regional Anesthesia on Perioperative Outcomes

  • Regional Anesthesia (CJL McCartney, Section Editor)
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Abstract

The utilization of regional anesthesia, be it neuraxial or peripheral nerve blocks, for various surgery settings and its impact on perioperative outcomes has been subject of evolving research in the last 10–15 years. Still, controversies persist on specific patient populations that might benefit from regional anesthetic techniques. In this review, the authors aim to give an overview of the impact regional anesthesia has on various outcomes by reviewing available clinical evidence while incorporating data from large database trials into our discussion. We find that causal relationships to individual outcomes are hard to establish and questions of superiority are still a matter of viewpoint, but also that little evidence exists suggesting inferior outcomes of regional anesthesia compared to general anesthesia.

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Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: • Of importance •• Of major importance

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Acknowledgments

Dr. Memtsoudis was funded by the Anna Maria and Stephen Keller Career Development Award, New York, NY.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anesthesiology, Hospital for Special Surgery, 535 East 70th Street, New York, NY, 10021, USA

    Mathias Opperer & Stavros G. Memtsoudis

  2. Department of Anesthesiology, Paracelsus Medical University Salzburg, Müllnerhauptstraße 48, 5020, Salzburg, Austria

    Mathias Opperer, Ottokar Stundner & Stavros G. Memtsoudis

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  1. Mathias Opperer
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  2. Ottokar Stundner
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Correspondence to Stavros G. Memtsoudis.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Regional Anesthesia.

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Opperer, M., Stundner, O. & Memtsoudis, S.G. Impact of Regional Anesthesia on Perioperative Outcomes. Curr Anesthesiol Rep 5, 209–216 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40140-015-0101-1

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