section_path: Techniques/Regional anesthesia
section_name: Regional anesthesia
paragraph_text: Regional anesthesia
  
  When pain is blocked from a part of the body using local anesthetics, it is generally referred to as regional anesthesia. There are many types of regional anesthesia either by injecting into the tissue itself, a vein that feeds the area or around a nerve trunk that supplies sensation to the area. The latter are called nerve blocks and are divided into peripheral or central nerve blocks.
  
  The following are the types of regional anesthesia:
  
  A 2018 Cochrane review found moderate quality evidence that regional anesthesia may reduce the frequency of persistent postoperative pain (PPP) from 3 to 18 months following thoracotomy and 3 to 12 months following caesarean. Low quality evidence was found 3 to 12 months following breast cancer surgery. This review acknowledges certain limitations that impact its applicability beyond the surgeries and regional anesthesia techniques reviewed.