Regional analgesia in intensive care

Abstract

JUSTIFICATIONS AND OBJECTIVES: regional analgesia plays an important role in multimodal pain management in critically ill patients, minimizing patient discomfort and reducing the associated physiological and psychological stress. Lower doses of systemic opioids reduce some of its side effects, such as withdrawal syndrome, possible psychological changes, and gastrointestinal dysfunction. Despite these benefits, its use is controversial, as patients in intensive care units often have contraindications, such as coagulopathy, hemodynamic instability, and difficulty in neurological assessment and implementation of regional technique.

Content: The authors present a review of regional analgesia in intensive care, focusing on the main advantages and limitations of its use in critically ill patients, and describe the most commonly used regional techniques and its applicability.