title: Regional anaesthesia techniques for carotid surgery: the state of art.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This review will analyse some aspects of regional anaesthesia (RA) for carotid endarterectomy (CEA), a surgical procedure which requires a strict monitoring of patient's status. RA remains an important tool for the anaesthesiologist. Some debates remain about type and definition of regional anaesthesia, efficacy and safety of the different cervical block techniques, the right dose, concentration and volume of local anaesthetic, the use of adjuvants, the new perspectives: ultrasonography, the future directions.
  
  
  METHODS
  A literature search was performed for journal articles in English language in the PubMed Embase and in The Cochrane Library database, from January 2000 to December 2013. The electronic search strategy contained the following medical subject headings and free text terms: local anaesthesia versus general anaesthesia for endarterectomy, superficial and deep cervical block, complications of cervical nerve block, ultrasound guidance of superficial and deep cervical plexus block.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The gold standard for RA will be achieved after overcoming a number of limitations by a more extensive use of ultrasonography, by combining general and regional anaesthesia, including conscious anaesthesia, by defining the appropriate volume, concentration and dosage of local agents and by addition of adjuvants.
authors.affiliation: Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L'Aquila, Via Vetoio 2, 67010 Coppito, L'Aquila, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ciccozzi
authors.affiliation: Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L'Aquila, Via Vetoio 2, 67010 Coppito, L'Aquila, Italy.
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Angeletti
authors.affiliation: Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L'Aquila, Via Vetoio 2, 67010 Coppito, L'Aquila, Italy.
authors.forename: Cristiana
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Guetti
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA ; Department of Anesthesiology, Georgetown University School of Medicine, Washington D.C, USA ; Department of Pharmacology, Temple University School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA USA ; Association of Chronic Pain Patients, Houston, TX USA.
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pergolizzi
authors.affiliation: Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L'Aquila, Via Vetoio 2, 67010 Coppito, L'Aquila, Italy.
authors.forename: Paolo Matteo
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Angeletti
authors.affiliation: Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L'Aquila, Via Vetoio 2, 67010 Coppito, L'Aquila, Italy.
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mariani
authors.affiliation: Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L'Aquila, Via Vetoio 2, 67010 Coppito, L'Aquila, Italy.
authors.forename: Franco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Marinangeli
keywords: Carotid surgery; Cervical plexus; Local anaesthesia; Ultrasonography