Regional blocks provide effective pain relief in pediatric day surgery, but local anesthetics are part of a concept that also includes nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. The choice of the regional technique is crucial to avoid unnecessary motor blockade and other side effects leading to prolonged hospital stay. For many interventions simple wound infiltration is therefore the optimal choice. For inguinal incisions, caudal anesthesia with approximately 1 mL/kg of bupivacaine 0.125% with epinephrine or ilioinguinal nerve block is widely used. Although ilioinguinal nerve block is preferable in older children, caudal anesthesia seems preferable for infants and toddlers. For penile surgery, penile block is the gold standard; the subpubic technique is described in detail. For extremity procedures, axillary brachial plexus block or intravenous regional anesthesia can be used in selected children. Copyright © 2000 by W.B. Saunders Company