Hadzic's Regional Anesthesia > Part II. Foundations of Regional Anesthesia > Section Two. Pharmacology > Chapter 10. Local Anesthetic Solutions for Continuous Nerve Blocks Marta Putzu, MD, Andrea Casati, MD

Local Anesthetic Solutions for Continuous Nerve Blocks: Introduction

"In the past few years progress has been made in understanding the mechanisms and pathways involved in the modulation of pain, as well as in developing new therapeutic tools to provide satisfactory pain relief after surgery. The relationship between the intensity of acute postoperative pain and the duration of the patient's recovery and functional outcome has been well established. For these reasons, the prevention and treatment of acute pain had become the focus of great interest for perioperative specialists. Postoperative pain differs from chronic pain by its shorter duration and its requirement for immediate relief, which dictate the development of suitable management protocols. Preemptive and preventive analgesia also represent concepts that only apply to acute postoperative pain. Finally, it is important to recognize the role of acute pain in the development of chronic pain syndrome...."