Diagnosis and management of peripheral nerve block complications

Peripheral nerve block anesthesia is a widely accepted, safe alternative to general anesthesia and is an excellent method of postoperative pain control. Because of a lack of definitive published information on the exact mechanisms of neural injury after nerve blockade and methods to prevent them, much research is needed in this area. In the meantime, anesthesiologists performing regional anesthesia should understand the necessity for good preprocedure patient education, history, physical examination, and detailed perioperative documentation. In the unlikely event of a possible block-related injury, the clinical perioperative record, along with electrophysiological studies, can help define the lesion, suggest possible treatments, and help predict outcomes.