Complications of peripheral regional anesthesia

Peripheral regional anesthesia is a commonly used and safe procedure and eneral complications or side effects are generally rare. Nerve damage has an incidence < 0.1% depending on the definition and the prognosis is good. To avoid bleeding complications the national standards of block performance under antithrombotic therapy should be respected. Intoxication is mainly the result of accidental intravenous administration and is difficult to treat but higher doses of intravenous lipid emulsions can improve the outcome. Potential infectious complications can occur mainly as a result of catheter techniques and require a strict aseptic approach. Further rare complications are allergies, dislocation of catheters and knotting or loops in catheters. Besides the general complications, there are some specific complications depending on the puncture site, such as pneumothorax or renal puncture.