Types of regional anesthesia in orthopedic surgery and the role of the nurse

MethodFor the purposes of this review, an analysis of the literature relating to the role of nurse anesthetists in orthopedic surgeries of the upper and lower limbs was conducted.Data were selected from various books, manuals, online journals and databases such as PubMed, Medline, Google Scholar and ScienceDirect, with the use of the following keywords: Regional Anesthesia, Orthopedic Surgery, Nurse's Role, Preoperative, Perioperative And Postoperative Care, in different combinations either in the Greek or English language.The data was retrieved from sources ranging from 1996 to 2019.Of the 55 articles and sources originally identified, 24 were used in this review.Inclusion criteria were data relating to regional anesthesia outcomes in relation to general anesthesia, regional anesthesia in orthopedic surgeries and positive outcomes and anesthesia nursing in regional anesthesia.Exclusion criteria were data relating to regional anesthesia administered to specific orthopedic patient groups (elderly, children), the use of regional Abstract Anesthesia, and, more specifically, regional anesthesia which is the focus of this review, is the most commonly used method in orthopedic surgery and is considered a rather complicated and delicate procedure.Therefore, nurses working in the anesthesiology department are of great importance due to the services and support they provide to both doctors and patients, by facilitating the anesthesiologist during the procedure as well as by monitoring, treating and supporting the patient.Nonetheless, the role of these nurses is generally understudied in scientific research and needs further investigation.For the purpose of this review a variety of articles relevant to orthopedic surgery, regional anesthesia and the role of nurse working in anesthesiology departments were gathered and analyzed in order to highlight the importance of the services they provide, using empirical evidence.