Spinal anaesthesia

Spinal anaesthesia is sometimes recommended for certain abdominal (belly) or lower limb surgery. Spinal anaesthetics can provide all the anaesthesia needed for an operation or, more commonly, is used in addition to a general anaesthetic to provide targeted pain relief for up to 12 hours after your surgery. The spinal anaesthetic procedure is usually performed before your general anaesthetic, using local anaesthetic to numb your skin with sedation in the vein to help you to relax during the procedure.

What is a spinal?

A local anaesthetic drug + opiate (morphine like) drug is injected through a needle into the middle of your lower back, to numb the nerves from the waist down to the toes for 2-3 hours and provide further pain relief (beyond the numbing effect) for up to 12 hours more.

Side effects/risks

Rare

• Failure, requiring additional pain relief

More common

• Low blood pressure, itching, headache (1:200).

Rare/very rare

• Temporary,minor nerve damage (1:2000)

• Permanent, minor nerve damage (1:12,000)

• Major nerve damage (>1:100,000)

Link to the Royal College of Anaesthetists information leaflet on spinal anaesthetics:

RCoA Spinal anaesthetic information leaflet