Medico-legal aspects of complications following pain relieving blocks

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Abstract
Nerve blocks administered for the relief of chronic pain are sometimes followed by complications which give rise to litigation. The grounds for legal action may be that: (1) complications were caused by the procedure; (2) the patient did not consent to the procedure; (3) the procedure was carried out inexpertly; (4) the wrong procedure was performed; (5) the treatment of the complication was inadequate. Many of these problems can be avoided by care in the selection, investigation and documentation of cases, by considered choice and meticulous performance of the block(s) and by adequate attention to aftercare.