Regional Anaesthesia during COVID-19 Pandemic: Need of an Hour!

Coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has affected large number of population in the world. The first cases were seen in Wuhan, china in December 2019 (2). Since then it has rapidly spread in the world with its first wave in 2020 and second wave in 2021 leaving large number of people infected and increased number of deaths. Most common symptoms are cough, fever, body ache and difficulty in breathing. Anesthesiologists are the frontline warriors in these difficult times in operation theaters and also in critical care unit. Their safety and the safety of patients are of utmost importance. Taking this into account, regional anaesthesia is the technique of choice in COVID suspected or positive patients. It minimizes the complications and risk associated with general anaesthesia. COVID infection spread through droplet transmission. So regional anaesthesia avoids the aerosol generated procedure during intubation and extubation in general anaesthesia and avoids the pollution of OTs. Also it avoids the respiratory complications in coronavirus infected patients. In this report we would like to share our clinical experience in COVID-19 patients.