Regional anesthesia update

Recently, many trials have been published to validate different techniques in peripheral regional anesthesia, but it is important to understand why and when we have to choose a specific technique and which advantages are offered by each of them. We performed a review of the clinical trials from the last three years (January 2007 - September 2009), finding 644 articles on this topic. Even if many clinical trials underline a better efficacy of ultrasound (US) rather than peripheral nerve stimulators (PNSs), it could be important to confirm these results with trials having larger sample sizes and to compare US to percutaneous electric guidance (PEG) and/or sequential electrical nerve stimulation (SENS) techniques rather than peripheral nerve stimulation. Finally, even if it is well recognized that peripheral regional anesthesia is a safe technique, it is important to underline how the "new" techniques can guarantee a further improvement in the safety and effectiveness of regional anesthesia. (Minerva Anestesiol 2010;76:629-36)