  We discuss the question of the relevance of perturbative QCD calculations for
analyzing the properties of the dense medium produced in heavy ion collisions.
Up to now leading order perturbative estimates have been worked out and
confronted with data for quenched large $p_{\perp}$ hadron spectra. Some of
them are giving paradoxical results, contradicting the perturbative framework
and leading to speculations such as the formation of a strongly interacting
quark-gluon plasma. Trying to bypass some drawbacks of these leading order
analysis and without performing detailed numerical investigations, we collect
evidence in favour of a consistent description of quenching and of the
characteristics of the produced medium within the pQCD framework.
