Better body armor and improved evacuations enable US soldiers in Iraq to survive blasts that would have proved fatal in previous conflicts. This creates a new challenge for military medicine: how to deal with the pain of injuries to extremities that body armor cannot protect (Gallagher RM and Polomano R. Pain Med. 2006;7:284-286).
Military researchers have found that regional anesthesia may be better than traditional general anesthesia for treating soldiers with acute injuries by helping prevent the development of chronic pain syndromes that can persist well after wounds have healed.
Hampton T. Researchers Probe Nerve-Blocking Pain Treatment for Wounded Soldiers. JAMA. 2007;297(22):2461-2462. doi:10.1001/jama.297.22.2461