Regional Anesthesia

Regional anesthesia is so named because a "region" of the body is anesthetized without making the person unconscious. One example of this is spinal anesthesia, which is often used on women during childbirth. A local anesthetic is injected into the spinal fluid and causes a loss of sensation of the lower body. Spinal anesthesia can be used for surgery on the legs or lower abdomen (below the bellybutton).

Epidural anesthesia is similar to spinal anesthesia in that a patient loses sensation in the legs and lower abdomen, but instead of injecting the local anesthetic into the spinal fluid, the anesthetic is injected into a space outside the spinal canal called the epidural space. A small tube or catheter can be placed into this space and a local anesthetic can be infused (fed) through the tube for hours, days, or even weeks. This type of anesthesia can be used for surgery with larger doses of anesthetic, or for chronic pain relief with lower doses of anesthetic. Regional anesthesia techniques can be used to block very specific areas such as one foot, one leg, one arm, or one side of the neck. In these cases, a smaller group of nerves is blocked by injection of the local anesthetic into a specific area. For spinals and epidurals, narcotic painkillers such as morphine and fentanyl can be used in addition to a local anesthetic.