Anesthesiology

Pectoralis-II and paravertebral nerve blocks are both used to treat pain after breast surgery, and most previous studies involving mastectomy show little difference between the two approaches. In this issue of Anesthesiology, Gabriel et al. hypothesized that pectoralis-II blocks would provide noninferior analgesia to paravertebral blocks in nonmastectomy breast surgery, with dual primary endpoints of pain scores within the recovery room and opioid consumption in both the operating room and recovery room combined. Cover illustration: A. Johnson, Vivo Visuals Studio. Injection anatomy art by G. Nelson, modified from Rathmell JP: Complications in Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine, 2nd edition. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2012.