“Is regional anesthesia the same as local?”
I am a 52 year old male. I want to know if regional anesthesia is the same as local?
6 Answers
A local anesthetic agent is used to block the nerve supply to a region.
Local anesthesia implies injection of an anesthetic in an area where the procedure will be done. Regional anesthesia implies injection of local anesthesia near a nerve bundle to produce anesthesia in limb or area of the body. Both use local anesthetic medicines, but produce vastly different results.
It's similar idea, but different outcome. The area will be completely numb and non functioning for a couple of hours. Typically, used for arm/shoulder/leg surgery.
Boris Yaguda, M.D.
Boris Yaguda, M.D.
Regional anesthesia is not the same as local. Regional involves injection of a local anesthetic (i.e., lidocaine, bupivicaine) into a nerve bundle to anesthetize a region of the body. This may involve surgery of the shoulder, hip, knee, or other larger areas of the anatomy. Local anesthesia involves the application of an anesthetic to a superficial area of the body. This may involve the application of sutures, cleansing of a wound, or any superficial application.
Not exactly. Local anesthetics (numbing medicine) is either injected around nerve bundles for a nerve block, injected into the subarachnoid space for a spinal block, or epidural space for an epidural block. These are considered regional anesthesia. Local anesthetics can also be infiltrated directly into the tissues. This is considered "local anesthesia".
No. Local anesthesia is produced right where the lidocaine is injected. Regional anesthesia is produced by injecting lidocaine near the nerves which serve an entire "region" of the body, like the whole arm.
