Abstract

A specialized facility was developed within the operating room complex to expedite the performance and teaching of regional anesthesia. The facility consists of a 16 × 19-foot room divided into areas to perform nerve blocks and hold post-block patients prior to their transfer to surgery and an office partition that serves as a teaching carrel. The unit's availability altered the normal pattern of performing nerve blocks between cases to a system whereby nerve blocks are performed during the preceding case. Improved operating room logistics has been noted with this approach, along with better patient and surgical acceptance of regional anesthesia. In addition, this has prompted a renewed interest in regional anesthesia by the resident staff, affording them a superior exposure to regional anesthesia in the course of their postgraduate training program.