A new study presented by Dr. Jessica Buren, a regional anesthesiology fellow at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, has revealed that local, pain-blocking anesthetic can be given at a much lower dose than previously thought for patients undergoing knee replacement surgery. “This is an important discovery because we are constantly trying to minimize risks to the patient while maintaining block success rates,” Dr. Buren said. “If we are able to use smaller amounts of medications, the patients will have a lower risk of developing local anesthetic toxicity.”