National patterns and variation in regional anesthesia use for shoulder, hip, knee, and ankle arthroplasty: a National Inpatient Sample analysis

The authors aimed to investigate the patterns and variations in the use of regional anesthesia (RA) for shoulder, hip, knee, and ankle arthroplasties across different patient and hospital characteristics. Their analysis of the National Inpatient Sample revealed that RA was utilized in 7.0% of cases, with significant variations based on procedure type, hospital size, location, teaching status, and geographic region, but limited differences based on patient demographics. These findings indicate a need for further research to understand the underlying factors influencing RA utilization in arthroplasty procedures.