Brief reports: paravertebral block for anesthesia: a systematic review.

Background: The objective of this review was to assess the safety and efficacy of thoracic and lumbar paravertebral blocks (PVBs) for surgical anesthesia through a systematic review of the peer-reviewed literature. PVBs for surgical anesthesia were compared with general anesthesia (GA) or other regional anesthetic techniques.

Methods: We searched literature databases including MEDLINE, EMBASE, and The Cochrane Library up to May 2008.