A History of Regional Anesthesia

The history of regional anesthesia has been colorful and tumultuous, filled in its early days with self-experimentation, daring and charismatic personalities, and evangelical supporters. The initial enthusiasm retreated before the advance in new general anesthetic drugs and anesthetic adjuvants in the 1930s to 1950s. It took the introduction of long-acting local anesthetics and development of techniques for their safe use in the last quarter of the century that resurrected the fortunes of regional anesthesia. The development of new delivery techniques, particularly ultrasound guidance and continuous epidural and peripheral nerve catheters has supported the renaissance of regional blockade. The detailed and rigorous science of the last 30 years has confirmed a critical role for regional anesthesia and analgesia as a superior perioperative technique, one that the early pioneers may have only partially envisioned, but one they would certainly be pleased with.