Rebound Pain Following Surgery With Regional Anesthesia Block

Rebound Pain Following Surgery With Regional Anesthesia Block: A Prospective Cohort Study

For some kinds of surgery, Anesthesiologists provide nerve blocks (regional anesthesia) to reduce pain from surgery by injecting freezing medication around deep nerves with ultrasound. Nerve blocks help with pain control following surgery and reduce the amount of strong opioids needed but relatively little research has focused on the pain that occurs once the nerve block has worn off. This is called rebound or transition pain.

This research study will prospectively collect data including pain scores before, during and after nerve blocks are given for surgery. We will look at the type of nerve blocks and other analgesia medications used with the aim of quantifying rebound pain to better understand how to limit it's impact on quality postoperative pain control.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age 18-75 years
• Receiving peripheral nerve block as part for anesthesia/analgesia as part of standard perioperative care for surgery performed at University of Alberta Hospital during a 6 month period
• Elective and emergency surgery

Exclusion Criteria:

• Inability to consent to participate in the study (illiteracy, <7th grade education)
• Contraindication/history of hypersensitivity to local anesthetics