THEloco-regional anesthesia consists in temporarily abolishing the transmission of nerve messages in a predefined area of ​​the body, in order to perform surgery, medical examination or treatment. It is used more and more because of its ability to replace general anesthesia.

The principle is to inject local anesthetics in the vicinity of a peripheral nerve or spinal cord to numb a specific area of ​​the body. The patient no longer feels anything in the targeted body part but remains in a state of consciousness.

Loco-regional anesthesia is practiced at all levels of the nervous system (central or peripheral), depending on the area to be anesthetized:

• spinal anesthesia (epidural anesthesia and spinal anesthesia) for an intervention in the lower region of the body, the urinary tract or in gynecology and obstetrics

• peripheral anesthesia (nerve block anesthesia, brachial plexus anesthesia, intravenous local anesthesia, etc.) for an intervention on a limb (hands, arms, feet, legs), face or a specific region of the body.

Locoregional anesthesia is used when general anesthesia is not necessary or not possible. For example :

• for an urgent surgical intervention on a patient whose cardiac or respiratory state does not allow the use of a general anesthesia

• in elderly subjects, in order to avoid the constraints of general anesthesia (drowsiness, nausea and vomiting, cardiac and respiratory complications)
• in all other cases where it is not useful for the patient to be completely unconscious (childbirth, short-term and minimally invasive procedure, etc.).

For peripheral anesthesia, medical staff inject a local anesthetic near a specific nerve or bundle of nerves (nerve block) that innervates the area of ​​the body you want to fall asleep.

For spinal cord anesthesia, medical staff inject a local anesthetic near the spinal cord:

• in the case of spinal anesthesia, the injection is made into the cerebrospinal fluid, through two vertebrae

• in the case of epidural anesthesia, the injection is made into the epidural space, between the vertebrae and the meninges. This can take place at all levels of the spinal cord (cervical, dorsal, lumbar, sacral).

During the operation, the blood pressure and heart and respiratory rhythms of the patient are monitored.

The targeted areas are anesthetized and the patient does not feel any pain. The doctor can perform surgery, medical examination or treatment without discomfort to the patient.