Anesthesia for dermatologic surgery.

The increased scope and complexity of dermatologic surgery has led to a need for greater skill in the preoperative administration of local and regional anesthesia. This article reviews the mechanism of action of local anesthetic agents, their pharmacologic properties and adverse reactions, and describes accepted techniques for safely and effectively establishing local and regional anesthesia for skin surgery. The presentation is limited to those techniques of greatest use to the office practitioner.