Axillary brachial plexus block: method of choice?

The first brachial plexus block is said to have been performed by William Halsted in 1884 [32], soon after Roller [13] had demonstrated the local anaesthetic properties of cocaine. He injected the drug under direct vision, after exposing the plexus using infiltration anaesthesia. The first percutaneous blocks were performed independently in 1911 by Hirschel [11] and Kulenkampff [14], using the axillary and supraclavicular routes, respectively. Interscalene block was described by Etienne [8] in 1925.