Title: Regional Anesthesia and Pain Management

Abstract:

Pain is the 5th vital sign. Every patient has right to be pain free. Untreated or poorly treated acute pain may lead to chronic pain and long term physical and psychological effects. Multimodal analgesia is best approach to treat pain. In certain clinical conditions, pharmacological options become very limited to manage pain, i.e., in patients with renal impairment, COPD, Obesity, obstructive sleep apnea, old age, altered mental status etc, use of NSAIDs, opiates, PCA is not appropriate. Regional anesthesia, may replace not only general anesthesia for certain surgical procedures, but provides excellent intraoperative and postoperative analgesia as well. Duration of analgesia can be increased with addition of additives to local anesthetics and placement of catheters for continuous infusions. Intraoperative period:- Peripheral nerve blocks reduce use of narcotics, early recovery from general anesthesia and help in reducing operating room occupancy. Postoperative period:- Better pain control and lesser chances of nausea and vomiting help in early discharge from post anesthesia care unit, and early discharge from day care units. ICU:- Paravertebral blocks or serratus plane blocks provide greater pain relief related to ribs fractures and help to wean off ventilation and early discharge from ICU. Specialty of regional anesthesia has got significant popularity after introduction of ultrasound and relatively safer local anesthetic drugs. Newer regional block techniques and introduction of new peripheral blocks have added more popularity to regional anesthesia practice.

Biography:

Dr. Tahir Akbar is specialist pain physician and anesthesiologist at Tawam Hospital, Al Ain, UAE. Holding fellowship in anesthesiology and post-graduation in regional anesthesia, he has special interest in ultrasound guided regional anesthesia, acute and chronic pain management. He is lead member of APS team. He is actively involved in educational activities and teaching his juniors and nursing staff.