Preface

Born in 1946, I am privileged to be an aging baby boomer, one who has been fortunate enough to enjoy living in two very different centuries. In the 20th century, medicine received an ancestral legacy of knowledge full of illusions, professional ethics, and love for our profession. A time when the Hippocratic Oath was part of each of our medical actions, a time when in the operating room we used a manual cuff to measure blood pressure, a mercury thermometer, and a monitor with a screen so small and pale that it was difficult for us to see more than four PQRS complexes. Arterial blood gases were mandatory to determine perioperative oxygenation and acid-base status. We learned regional anesthesia from our mentors through anatomical references, and if we were lucky, using neurostimulation devices.

The end of the last century and the beginning of the 21st century were accompanied by enormous changes, including the development of new drugs and advances in technology previously unimaginable. Advances like pulse oximetry, capnography, and monitoring equipment integrated into compact and intelligent anesthesia machines that almost whisper in our ears the hemodynamic and metabolic changes of our patients, thus facilitating the modifications of our anesthetic plan. Ultrasound-guided regional anesthesia has been advancing by leaps and bounds, as has the use of new local anesthetics and adjuvant drugs.

Despite these advances, clinical anesthesiology continues to occupy a prominent place in the comprehensive management of each of our patients. Old, not so old, and new generations of anesthesiologists must observe the elementary principle *primum non nocere.*

This book, *Topics in Regional Anesthesia*, highlights the knowledge and experience of colleagues from diverse regions around the world, from sites with unlimited resources to places where the available technology is scarce. Undoubtedly, the current COVID health crisis has devastated all health systems, risking health workers, especially those anesthesiologists on the front lines. Regional anesthesia has once again demonstrated not only its technical benefits but has also become a powerful tool to reduce the possibility of contagion in this era of SARS-CoV-2.

As an editor, I want to thank my friends and co-editors Guillermo Castorena-Arellano and Ramón Saucillo-Osuna for their invaluable support in finishing the book, as well as the authors and friends who contributed to this project.

This book is dedicated to all doctors, especially my sister Blanca Whizar-Lugo, MD, who has died from COVID-19, and to all healthcare workers who continue to advocate for their patients during this frightening time, especially anesthesiologists and intensivist colleagues.
