Spinal Anesthesia: Much More Than Single Shot of Hyperbaric Bupivacaine

Abstract

There is significant and renewed attentiveness in the use of regional anesthesia techniques for many common surgeries. The vast majority of anesthesiologists world wide use the routinely the hyperbaric solution of bupivacaine for almost all types of surgery. However, they ignore that spinal anesthesia has more to offer. A different kind of technique for a different kind of patients. The understanding of spinal anesthesia in relation to sensory and motor blocks with hyperbaric and isobaric solutions is shown in this article. The possibilities of performing unilateral spinal anesthesia are described. The use of posterior spinal anesthesia shows that it is possible to perform only sensitive spinal anesthesia without motor block.The possibility of using isobaric and hypobaric solutions for different types of surgery has increased considerably. Thoracic spinal anesthesia has been shown feasible and safe for different types of surgeries, and more recently, thoracic continuous spinal anesthesia is being used. This article shows the possibility of performing spinal anesthesia for laparoscopic surgery, thoracic spinal anesthesia, segmental spinal anesthesia and continuous techniques.