What is the difference between epidural and spinal anesthesia what are the risks and benefits of each?
Back to epidurals and spinals: The main difference is the placement. With an epidural, anesthesia is injected into the epidural space. With a spinal, the anesthesia is injected into the dural sac that contains cerebrospinal fluid. The direct access means that a spinal gives immediate relief.
What are contraindications for epidural or spinal anesthesia?
There are major known contraindications to neuraxial anesthesia (spinal and epidural). The absolute contraindications are lack of consent from the patient, elevated intracranial pressure (ICP), primarily due to intracranial mass and infection at the site of the procedure (risk of meningitis).
What is the commonest 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 your concerns with spinal epidural anesthesia?
Risks
- Allergic reaction to the anesthesia used.
- Bleeding around the spinal column (hematoma)
- Difficulty urinating.
- Drop in blood pressure.
- Infection in your spine (meningitis or abscess)
- Nerve damage.
- Seizures (this is rare)
- Severe headache.
Is spinal anesthesia safer than general?
In patients undergoing primary THA there is a great amount of evidence to support that spinal anesthesia is associated with lower risk than general anesthesia [3, 8-11, 13, 28, 29, 38].
Is spinal anesthesia better than general?
Unlike general anesthesia, spinal anesthesia does not require patients to use breathing tubes. Patients who take medications to control blood pressure, have COPD, or are long-term smokers have a hard time with breathing tubes, which makes spinal anesthesia a far better option for them.
How long does spinal anesthesia take to wear off?
How long does it last? The effect usually takes between 2 and 4 hours to wear off, depending on the dose your procedure required. When can I go home? Before you go home the spinal anaesthetic must have completely worn off.
Which is better, spinal anesthesia or epidural anesthesia?
Spinal Anesthesia. This type of anesthesia also involves an injection, but using a much smaller needle. The anesthetic is injected into the spinal fluid of the spinal cord. As with epidural anesthesia, the goal is to completely numb the area and block pain. Spinal anesthesia is faster acting than epidural anesthesia.
How is anesthesia injected into the epidural space?
The procedure consists of inserting a needle and catheter into the epidural space (the area between the spine and its outer membrane). Once the catheter is in place, anesthesia is injected to numb the areas above and below the injection point.
How does epidural anesthesia affect the central nervous system?
That’s because the anesthetics can affect the central nervous system, cardiovascular system, and respiratory system. Both spinal and epidural anesthesia may affect blood pressure, breathing, heartbeat, and other vital functions. This information does not replace the advice of a doctor.
What are the side effects of spinal anesthesia?
Spinal anesthesia numbs the body below and sometimes above the site of the injection. The person may not be able to move his or her legs until the anesthetic wears off. A headache is the most common side effect of spinal anesthesia. It can usually be treated easily.