Training on regional anesthesia—From neurostimulation to ultrasound

Abstract

The number of procedures carried out with regional anesthesia techniques is increasingly higher; this applies not only to the anesthetic act itself but also includes postoperative analgesia, with the added advantage of the possibility of being a tool that prevents pain from becoming chronic. Anesthesiologists should be adequately trained in neurostimulation and ultrasound regional anesthesia techniques. The progress of ultrasound over the last few years has pushed both anatomical cutaneous references and basic pharmacologic knowledge into the background, so as to focus essentially on ultrasound visualization. This article reviews the different elements required for a good training in regional anesthesia (phantoms, simulators, tutorials, corpse workshop, etc) without disregarding neurostimulation, and it focuses on ultrasound as the main nerve location tool for the performance of regional anesthesia techniques.