Bring up that block!The author injects a thoracic epidural in the preoperative holding area, Harborview Medical Center, Seattle.

What is this site?

May 11, 1997	Welcome to The Illustrated Notes Version 1.1 - the site that celebrates the art and science of regional anesthesia! Teaching in regional anesthesia relies heavily on descriptions of anatomy, illustrations, and observation of techniques. I think it is an area well-suited to multimedia. This site was developed as an attempt to create a richly-illustrated, fully-referenced, digital "syllabus" that would serve as a framework for discussion and provide a reading list for anesthesiology residents during their regional anesthesia rotation at the University of Washington Affilitated Hospitals. Since each anesthesia library in our system is wired with fast Internet connections and Web browsers, placing the Notes on the Web has the advantage of making them readily available to all residents. With the Web-based format, additions and revisions are easily made, and the content stays fresh.
This is no peer- reviewed journal!	The current Notes illustrates the anatomy relevant to regional blockade, describes and compares different techniques, reviews issues in the pharmacology of local anesthetics, and discusses the management of complications related to regional anesthesia. I made an attempt to review issues that aren't well-covered in the traditional anesthesia textbooks. I hope to include information on more exotic regional techniques as this site grows. Eventually, it may serve as a large archive for illustrations, photographs, digital movies, and case presentations related to regional anesthesia.
	This is obviously no peer-reviewed journal. I encourage the residents who browse through this site to look up the references themselves -- go dust off that tired copy of Bromage's Epidural Analgesia (if you are lucky enough to find it). I invite those of you who share my enthusiasm and are much more experienced and knowledgable about regional anesthesia than I am to send your comments and criticisms. For the rest of you who are just browsing and managed to find your way here, I hope I can give you a small taste of what the practice of anesthesiology at the University of Washington is like. Andrew M. Elizaga, MD Resident Department of Anesthesiology University of Washington Seattle, Washington email:aelizaga@u.washington.edu
	The text (except the MEDLINE abstracts), illustrations, and digital images in this site are all original! Credit is given to the original source when an image is based on previously published anatomic illustrations. Thanks to Chuck Chabal, MD for furnishing video footage from the Seattle Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Rick Elizaga (my design consultant) and to all the patients, residents and attendings who let me photograph their blocks. This site was constructed digitally with the help of: Power Macintosh 6100/60AV JVC digital video Apple QuickTake150 AdobePhotoshop 3.0.5 AOLPress1.2.2 Netscape Navigator Gold 3.0 ABOUT THE AUTHOR HOME