The role of regional anesthesia in patient outcome: orthopedic surgery

Outcome is defined as “a change in a patient's health status that can be attributed to antecedent health care.” Postoperative pain is a major concern after orthopedic limb surgery. Indeed, pain is exacerbated with motion, particularly after shoulder and knee surgery. From moderate at rest, pain becomes most severe during mobilization. Several studies have shown that regional anesthesia is associated with superior analgesia compared with patient-controlled analgesia morphine. The better postoperative pain control has led to the application of early mobilization, a new trend in modern orthopedics. Other benefits of regional anesthesia techniques in this setting are lower incidence of nausea and vomiting, higher patient satisfaction, and probably less postoperative cognitive dysfunction.