[Intravenous regional anesthesia with long-acting local anesthetics. An update]

Intravenous regional anesthesia is a widely used technique for brief surgical interventions, primarily on the upper limbs and less frequently, on the lower limbs. It began being used at the beginning of the 20th century, when Bier injected procaine as a local anesthetic. The technique to accomplish anesthesia has not changed much since then, although different drugs, particularly long-acting local anesthetics, such as ropivacaine and levobupivacaine in low concentrations, were introduced. Additionally, drugs like opioids, muscle relaxants, paracetamol, neostigmine, magnesium, ketamine, clonidine, and ketorolac, have all been investigated as adjuncts to intravenous regional anesthesia, and were found to be fairly useful in terms of an increased onset of operative anesthesia and longer lasting perioperative analgesia. The present article provides an overview of current knowledge with emphasis on long-acting local anesthetic drugs.