Continuous peripheral nerve blockade for postoperative analgesia.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To review the recent literature involving the use of continuous peripheral nerve sheath catheters in the management of postoperative pain.

RECENT FINDINGS: Continuous peripheral nerve blocks provide superior analgesia and are associated with fewer opioid-induced side effects for patients undergoing extremity surgery. Ultrasound technology is being used with increasing frequency to guide the placements of continuous peripheral nerve blocks. The evidence is still equivocal regarding the superiority of stimulating versus nonstimulating catheters for the delivery of continuous peripheral nerve blockade. The incidence of major complications associated with continuous peripheral nerve blocks is very low and probably no different from single injection peripheral nerve blocks.

SUMMARY: Continuous peripheral nerve blocks are an excellent additional modality to compliment other multimodal analgesics to control moderate to severe postoperative pain.