title: Peripheral nerve blocks for ambulatory surgery.
abstract: Peripheral nerve blocks (PNBs) provide significant improvement in postoperative analgesia and quality of recovery for ambulatory surgery. Use of continuous PNB techniques extend these benefits beyond the limited duration of single-injection PNBs. The use of ultrasound guidance has significantly improved the overall success, efficiency, and has contributed to the increased use of PNBs in the ambulatory setting. More recently, the use of ultrasound guidance has been demonstrated to decrease the risk of local anesthetic systemic toxicity. This article provides a broad overview of the indications and clinically useful aspects of the most commonly used upper and lower extremity PNBs in the ambulatory setting. Emphasis is placed on approaches that can be used for single-injection PNBs and continuous PNB techniques.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Virginia Mason Medical Center, 1100 Ninth Avenue, B2-AN, Seattle, WA 98101-2756, USA. Electronic address: Francis.Salinas@vmmc.org.
authors.forename: Francis V
authors.initials: FV
authors.lastname: Salinas
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Virginia Mason Medical Center, 1100 Ninth Avenue, B2-AN, Seattle, WA 98101-2756, USA.
authors.forename: Raymond S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Joseph
mesh_terms: D000556:Ambulatory Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D035002:Lower Extremity / Q000601:surgery; D009407:Nerve Block / Q000379:methods*; D010525:Peripheral Nerves; D034941:Upper Extremity / Q000601:surgery
keywords: Ambulatory surgery; Continuous peripheral nerve blocks; Peripheral nerve blocks; Ultrasound guidance