[Survey on current practice of regional anaesthesia in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Part 2: Use, success rates and techniques]

Abstract

The current practice of regional anaesthesia in German-speaking countries was investigated in a survey. The second part of the trilogy presents data about its use, success rates, and techniques. In 2002 questionnaires were mailed to 750 randomly selected departments of anaesthesia of which 384 hospitals participated. Peripheral regional anaesthesia is used above all in traumatology and orthopaedics, 45% of the hospitals with paediatric surgery never used neuroaxial blocks. The residents achieved mean success rates of 69.7+/-11.8% for supraclavicular plexus block to 85.5+/-9.0% for spinal anaesthesia, the specialists in anaesthesia 79.2+/-11.3% (supraclavicular plexus block) to 91.0+/-6.8% (spinal anaesthesia). Standards for basic techniques, recording of success rates, and for quality assurance of peripheral nerve blocks should be worked out to improve the application of peripheral regional anaesthesia procedures. In neuroaxial anaesthesia satisfying success rates were reached in German-speaking countries. In paediatric anaesthesia its use still has many opponents.