What is 'spinal anesthesia'?

What is 'spinal anesthesia'?

Samuel Seelig (Anesthesiologist, Los Angeles, California) gives expert video advice on: What are the risks of an epidural?; Can I take additional pain medication while having spinal anesthesia or an epidural?; Does general anesthesia affect breastfeeding? and more...

Spinal anaesthesia is a regional anaesthesia technique, which is sometimes used for caesarean sections and obstetrical anaesthesia. A spinal needle is placed in the lumbar spine, somewhere below the level of L2. At the level of L2, the spinal cord ends in ninety-nine percent of the population, so it's a very safe injection. Once the spinal canal is entered and cerebral spinal fluid is identified, a small amount of local anaesthetic is placed in the spinal canal, and the patient becomes numb from, approximately, the chest down. This is done for caesarean sections. If the level of numbness is from the nipples down, the patient will feel, essentially, nothing during the caesarean section. In that way, the patient can remain awake and not receive any systemic medications, and can be there for the delivery of her child. It is a very safe, regional anaesthetic technique. The side effects of spinal anaesthesia is once the needle is placed, and the spinal medication is injected, the blood pressure can decrease. We are always aware of that, and we have fluids to infuse to bring it back up; or vasopressors, medication that increases the blood pressure to bring it right back to where it was. Some patients, if the spinal anaesthetic is high, have the sensation that they're not breathing, because part of their chest is somewhat numb. We are, of course, reassuring to the mother-to-be, and get her through that period. If the mothers become very anxious, we can and will give them a sedative, but we prefer to do that after the baby has been delivered and the umbilical cord has been clamped.