In contrast, there has been little investigation into PIB dosing regimens in the context of continuous peripheral nerve blockade. In 2005, Taboada et al 2 published a study that compared automated PIB dosing with CI dosing of local anesthetic for continuous popliteal sciatic nerve blockade. In both regimens, patients were also allowed to administer PCA boluses of local anesthetic as needed to improve the quality of the nerve block. The authors found that the automated PIB dosing regimen resulted in patients using less local anesthetic and fewer PCA boluses, while providing equivalent analgesia. There was a non-significant trend to lower pain scores in the PIB group of patients. These effects are attributed to better perineural spread of local anesthetic with the PIB regimen. No other studies have been conducted to confirm these benefits.