Hadzic's Regional Anesthesia > Part VIII. Regional Anesthesia in Patients with Special Considerations > Chapter 58. Regional Anesthesia & Systemic Disease Jeffrey Gadsden, MD, Admir Hadzic, MD

Regional Anesthesia & Systemic Disease: Introduction

"Patients with coexisting severe systemic disease may be at a higher risk for perioperative complications related to surgery and administration of anesthesia. Regional anesthesia is often touted as beneficial in many patients who have pulmonary, cardiac, renal, and other disease. However, the physiologic changes that occur with various regional anesthesia techniques must be understood and viewed within the context of an individual patient's pathophysiology so that the technique benefits the patient fully and reduces the risk of complications from the patient' disease. This chapter focuses on the pathophysiology of several common systemic diseases frequently encountered by the regional anesthesiologist and discusses the interplay between common regional anesthesia techniques and patient disease...."