Limited English proficiency is associated with lower regional anesthesia utilization for surgery

Patients with limited English proficiency (non-English preferred language) receive regional anesthesia at lower rates — and general anesthesia at higher rates — than English-speaking patients undergoing surgery. Sabra et al. tested this hypothesis at a specialized orthopedic center and did NOT find the disparity: language was not associated with RA utilization on univariate, multilevel-adjusted, or propensity-matched analysis, nor was interpreter use. The authors attribute the divergence from prior reports to RA being near-universal standard of care at their institution and to a perioperative language-services program.