Regional Anesthesia

About Regional Anesthesia

Regional anesthesia uses local anesthetics to block sensations of pain from a large area of the body, such as an arm or leg or the abdomen.  We have developed innovative, patient-centered approaches to administering regional anesthesia for all types of surgical procedures.

• • We have one of the busiest labor and delivery (L&D) departments in the area, and all of our labor epidurals are placed by physicians.

• • We provide anesthesia services to many of the leading orthopedic practices across the region.

• • Our anesthesia teams perform every type of anesthetic from spinals to peripheral nerve blocks and catheters.

For general surgeons, we perform specialized blocks to numb the abdominal wall, as well as spinal and epidurals, when needed.  We have partnered with Penn Breast Oncology team to develop a cutting edge program to perform regional anesthesia of the chest wall for mastectomies.  Our cardiac anesthesia group is making great strides using a combination of spinal and regional techniques to optimize pain control and minimize time to extubation.

• • Upper extremity surgery:  Our doctors offer both single shot upper extremity nerve blocks that can last 12-24 hours for shoulder, elbow, hand, and wrist surgeries, and nerve block catheters that extend the length of analgesia to three days.  We have nursing staff to follow-up with patients at home with catheters and OnQ pumps and aid in removal.

• • Hip and knee surgery:  All of our patients are enrolled in the Enhanced Recovery after Surgery program (ERAS), which allows them to receive preemptive oral analgesia prior to their surgeries.  Most patients will receive a regional anesthetic technique such as a spinal for surgery and aggressive post-op analgesia to minimize pain and aid mobility.  Patients can also receive a nerve block to extend the length of analgesia for 18-24 hours.

• • Foot and ankle surgery:  Our physicians administer nerve blocks for major foot and ankle surgeries that can last 24-36 hours.  For ankle fusions and replacement, we place nerve block catheters to increase the length of analgesia.

• • General Surgery:  Many of our patients are enrolled in the Enhanced Recovery after Surgery program (ERAS); a patient-centered, evidence-based, multidisciplinary team approach that aids recovery by decreasing pain and increasing mobility immediately post-op. Patients are given clear preoperative guidelines and preemptive pain medications prior to surgery.  The surgeons perform the least invasive procedure necessary, often a laparoscopic or robotic procedure, if possible.  The anesthesia team provides multimodal anesthesia that can include regional blocks such as TAP blocks to anesthetize the abdominal wall for open procedures and epidurals for larger procedures.

• • Breast Oncology:  The Enhanced Recovery after Surgery program (ERAS) has been very successful with our mastectomy and reconstructive surgery patients.  Our anesthesia team will administer preemptive oral analgesics and multiple antiemetics, as well as performing regional anesthesia to the chest wall to significantly decrease post-op discomfort and nausea.

• • Cardiac Surgery:  We have an award-winning anesthesia team that provides spinals and chest wall anesthesia to patients for  major open heart surgery.  Our team’s research has proven that these analgesia techniques allow patients to be extubated prior to leaving the operating room, rather than spending 12-24 hours on a ventilator in the ICU.

• • Vascular Surgery:  Building on our cardiac surgery experience, our anesthesiologists offer multiple regional techniques for vascular surgery, such as upper extremity nerve blocks for dialysis catheters and lower extremity and abdominal wall nerve blocks for bypass surgery.

We offer all types of regional anesthetics, each tailored to the specific procedure, and guided by our focus on patient safety and comfort.