Regional anesthesia is one of the highest-yield, most heavily tested areas on the boards, but most review content buries the clinically useful details under anatomy that never gets asked. This episode breaks down the brachial plexus approaches boards actually tests, the truncal and lower extremity blocks showing up in modern multimodal protocols, and the complication patterns examiners use as answer traps.

In this episode:

The four brachial plexus approaches and why phrenic nerve risk drops as you move from interscalene to axillary
Why adductor canal block has replaced femoral nerve block for TKA, and the volume myths that trip up test-takers
The LAST risk hierarchy by injection site, and the Exparel interaction rules boards loves to test

FREE RESOURCES:

SEE/NCE Study Plan — A structured, week-by-week plan to pass your boards

GPCR Cheat Sheet — G-protein coupled receptors decoded for anesthesia.

Non-Opioid Pharmacology Cheat Sheet — Every non-opioid analgesic you need to know, on one page

Malignant Hyperthermia Reference Guide — Recognize MH fast. Treat it faster — one-page reference

WANT THE FULL PLATFORM?

Atomic Anesthesia is the all-in-one study platform built specifically for SRNAs — lessons, quizzes, flashcards, and more. Start your free trial at atomicanesthesia.com.