Shahyian Maknajia

ISM 7th period

Sobol, Jennifer. "Spinal and Epidural Anesthesia." MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia.

A.D.A.M, 09 Mar. 2017. Web. 23 Mar. 2017.

https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/007413.htm

An anesthesiologist who is a doctor gives epidural and spinal anesthesia.

CRNAs are taught how to perform an epidural or a spinal anesthesia, but in most
hospital they dont allow CRNAs to give a patient epidural or spinal anesthesia.
Epidural and spinal anesthesia is given to a patient on the back.
Epidural and spinal anesthesia is usually for someone that is pregnant or has a
lower back surgery.
Before giving a patient an epidural or spinal anesthesia, anesthesiologists must
first clean the back with special solution that takes out all the dirt and germs
collected on the patients back.
The anesthesiologist then will numb the area where the epidural and/or spinal
anesthesia will be taking place with local anesthetic drug.
For an epidural the anesthesiologist will inject the different anesthetic drugs in the
epidural space found between either lumber 3 and 4 or lumber 4 and 5.
The epidural anesthesia blocks may nerves allowing most of the body parts to be
numbed like the legs, hips, lower back, the belly, etc.
The medicine injected starts working within 10 minutes.
The epidural anesthesia works very well with longer procedures like giving
childbirth.
Nurses inject an IV in the vein where they receive many fluids like many
anesthetic drugs.
Anesthetic drugs allow the patient to relax, stay comfortable, and lets them sleep.
After the anesthesiologist is done injecting the anesthetic drugs into a patients
back, they then removing the needle and replace it with a flexible catheter.
The flexible catheter remains in place after the surgery or giving birth is
completely done.
Anesthesiologists will leave the catheter in so the patient can easily receive more
pain medication if the pain arises during childbirth.
For spinal anesthesia its the same process, but the needle goes pass the epidural
space into the spine where anesthetic drugs are given.
Unlike the epidural anesthesia the spinal anesthesia starts working right away
within seconds.
The spinal anesthesia works well with short and simply procedures.
This source was very informational on epidural and spinal anesthesia. It was very
straightforward and very simple to understand the concept between the spinal and
epidural anesthesia. It also explained many things well like the steps.