What is spinal anesthesia?
Spinal anesthesia is a neuraxial anesthesia technique in which local anesthetic is placed directly in the intrathecal space (subarachnoid space). The subarachnoid space houses sterile cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), the clear fluid that bathes the brain and spinal cord.
What are the drugs used in spinal Anaesthesia?
Lidocaine, tetracaine, and bupivacaine are the local anesthetic agents most commonly employed for spinal anesthesia in the U.S. Lidocaine provides a short duration of anesthesia and is primarily useful for surgical and obstetrical procedures lasting less than one hour.
What are the indications of spinal Anaesthesia?
Indications. Indications for spinal anesthesia include lower abdominal, perineal, and LE surgery. Technically one could use it for upper abdominal surgery however because these procedures impact breathing so profoundly, general anesthesia is generally preferred.
What is the position for spinal anesthesia?
The sitting position is frequently used for patients undergoing spinal anesthesia especially when low lumbar and sacral levels of sensory anesthesia are needed for the surgical procedure, such as perineal and urologic operations, or when obesity or scoliosis makes identification of midline anatomy difficult in the …
What is the difference between general anesthesia and spinal anesthesia?
Patients undergoing general anesthesia are completely unconscious, and they typically need to use breathing tubes and inhale gas. Spinal anesthesia allows us to avoid some of these procedural elements.
What is difference between epidural and spinal anesthesia?
Spinal anesthesia involves the injection of numbing medicine directly into the fluid sac. Epidurals involve the injection into the space outside the sac (epidural space).
What are the complication of spinal anesthesia?
Major Complications of Spinal Anesthesia Major complications of spinal anesthesia include direct needle trauma, infection (meningitis or abscess formation), vertebral canal hematoma, spinal cord ischemia, cauda equina syndrome (CES), arachnoiditis, and peripheral nerve injury.
What is the most common complication of spinal anesthesia?
The most common are postdural puncture headache and hypotension. Hypotension after spinal anesthesia is a physiological consequence of sympathetic blockade. The diagnoses and management of these sequelae are discussed.
What are the contraindications of spinal anesthesia?
TABLE 1. Contraindications to spinal anesthesia.
| Absolute Contraindications | Relative Contraindications |
|---|---|
| • Patient refusal • Infection at the site of injection • Uncorrected hypovolemia • Allergy • Increased intracranial pressure | • Coagulopathy • Sepsis • Fixed cardiac output states • Indeterminate neurological disease |
What was the first technique for spinal anesthesia?
The technique first was described by Bier and consists of the injection of the anesthetic solution into the subarachnoid space, immediate withdrawal of a portion of the solution and reinjection. This may be repeated.
How does the to and fro movement work in spinal anesthesia?
The to-and-fro movement agitates the injectate in the spinal fluid, and the currents mix the agent more completely and carry the agent more extensively and to higher levels. Caution must be observed and each operator must learn the results of his barbotage barboTaGe
When to use a skin wheal for spinal anesthesia?
23. ∗ Thisisavery useful method in casesof spinefusion, arthritic spine, opisthotones, skin infection in thelumbar region , or in other conditionsin which theusual approach isdifficult or impossible. ∗ Largest interspaseL5-S1. ∗ A skin wheal is made1cm medially and 1cm below thelowest prominenceof theposterior-superior spine.
Which is part of the body is blocked by spinal anesthesia?
Physiology of Spinal Anesthesia. Spinal anesthesia blocks small, unmyelinated sympathetic fibers first, after which it blocks myelinated (sensory and motor) fibers. The sympathetic block can exceed motor/sensory by two dermatomes.