[Regional anesthesia for postoperative pain control].

Pain is the most frequent and straining symptom after surgery. Regardless of the severity of the surgical trauma patients may suffer from severe pain and may therefore not tolerate or even refuse important postoperative interventions for fear of pain. This may influence the outcome and worsen the prognosis of surgical patients. Physicians are therefore ethically and legally bound to care for adequate pain management. Regional anesthesia, especially epidural analgesia, is most effective to treat postoperative pain. It is discussed whether the incidence and severity of chronic postoperative pain can be reduced and postoperative complications can be prevented by this technique. Epidural analgesia may reduce the risk of postoperative complications (i.e. myocardial infarction) by reducing the surgical stress response and inhibiting the pathophysiological cascade that may trigger undesirable sequelea.