What are spinal and epidural anesthesia?
Spinal and epidural anesthesia are ways to block pain from an entire region of the body.
A doctor or nurse with special training will give you numbing medicine. It's given near your spinal cord and the nerves around it.
You may get this medicine for a procedure on the lower part of your body. One example is a surgery on your lower belly, hips, or legs. It can also be used to help control pain after a procedure. Epidural anesthesia is often used in childbirth.
How are spinal and epidural anesthesia done?
You may need to sit up and curl your body forward to round your low back. Or you'll lie on your side and curl your knees up to your chest.
First you'll get a shot to numb the skin on your back. Then the doctor or nurse will put a needle into the numbed area.
For spinal anesthesia, you'll get a shot of numbing medicine near your spinal cord. For epidural, you may get a single shot. But usually, a thin tube (catheter) is inserted through the needle into the space next to the spinal cord. Then the needle is removed and the tube stays in your back to supply the numbing medicine. Sometimes spinal and epidural anesthesia are combined.
You may also get other medicines for pain or to help you relax. You may get them through a tube in your vein, called an I.V. They may make you feel sleepy.
Spinal and epidural anesthesia: When to call
Call your doctor now or seek immediate medical care if:
- You have new or worse back pain.
- You have increased pain, swelling, warmth, or redness at the injection site.
- You have a fever.
- You have a new or worse headache.
- You have a stiff neck.
- You have tingling, weakness, or numbness in your legs or groin.
- You have trouble urinating or can pass only very small amounts of urine.
Watch closely for changes in your health, and be sure to contact your doctor if:
- You do not get better as expected.
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