[Regional anesthesia-- approaches to the brachial plexus].

Peripheral regional blocks are not only appropriate for intraoperative anaesthesia. More and more they become popular for postoperative analgesia after painful operations of the extremities. For this reason in this article only techniques are presented, which are suitable as well for a "single shot" block as for a continuous technique with an indwelling catheter. In detail the interscalene technique according to Meier, the infraclavicular block according to Kilka, Geiger, and Mehrkens (or alternatively according to Raj, modified by Borgeat) and the perivascular axillary brachial plexus block are described. The continuous technique of the block of the suprascapular nerve is very helpful in patients with chronic pain in the shoulder, if no surgery is performed. The authors are very interested in a praxis relevant description of the techniques including numerous "tips and tricks".