"See one, do one, teach one, have one": a novel variation on regional anesthesia training.

Introduction: Is it possible to determine the number of nerve blocks needed for residents to become competent in regional anesthesia? Several studies have focused on this question, and the Residency Review Committee (RRC) for Anesthesiology has now defined a "minimum clinical experience" for some aspects of regional anesthesia training. In our experience, personally being a regional block recipient can also serve to enhance training.

Methods: Many residents at Virginia Mason Medical Center have received regional anesthetics as volunteers in research projects.

Distribution of local anesthetic in axillary brachial plexus block: a clinical and magnetic resonance imaging study.

Background: There is an unsettled discussion about whether the distribution of local anesthetic is free or inhibited when performing brachial plexus blocks. This is the first study to use magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to help answer this question.

Methods: Thirteen patients received axillary block by a catheter-nerve stimulator technique.