ABSTRACT
The role of regional anesthesia in the trauma patient is both complex and controversial. The decision-making is complex, because trauma patients may present with a spectrum of injuries and in various degrees of shock. Accordingly, simple rules cannot be applied to all patients. Use of regional anesthesia in the trauma patient is controversial, because initial historical reports of spinal anesthesia use in acute trauma predictably resulted in catastrophe (1) and several common trauma-related conditions constitute either absolute or relative contraindications to regional anesthesia (e.g., full stomach, hemodynamic compromise, unstable/ uncleared cervical thoracic or lumbar spine, compartment syndrome of lower extremities, etc.).
