When one trains to become a physician, there is a first time for everything - the first scary day in anatomy lab, the first physical exam, the first IV. My most memorable first was the time I poked a ...

THE relief of pain during childbirth has been since time immemorial a subject of discussion and controversy. At first the differences of opinion were based on biblical interpretations. Snow's use of ...

Spinal anesthesia was developed in the latter part of the last century when the German physicians Bier and Hildebrandt injected cocaine into their own cerebrospinal fluids. They experienced varying ...

BOSTON — Use of spinal anesthesia instead of general anesthesia for spine surgery improved patient recovery and reduced costs by nearly 10%, according to the results of a single-institution study ...

Another and important means of prevention of neurologic disease after spinal anesthesia involves the proper selection of patients. Afflictions of the central nervous system and spinal column are ...

A numbing medicine largely abandoned decades ago for pain control during surgery could be making a comeback as an effective spinal anesthetic for today's modern-day knee replacement. In two companion ...

Nov. 20 -- WEDNESDAY, Nov. 19 (HealthDay News) -- Spinal anesthesia won't cause or worsen restless legs syndrome. That's the conclusion of a new study published as a letter to the editor in the Nov.

New research could ease the minds of expectant mothers who may be nervous about epidurals or spinal anesthesia for childbirth. According to ASA practice guidelines, spinal or epidural anesthesia is ...

Spinal hematoma is a rare and potentially catastrophic complication of spinal or epidural anesthesia. Risk factors include traumatic needle/catheter placement, sustained anticoagulation in an ...

The question of whether an epidural or spinal is advisable after spinal surgery does not appear to have been studied systematically. What we know and how we practice is based on case reports, most of ...

QUESTION: I had an operation many years ago and the doctor gave me a spinal. The surgery went well, but I had a terrible headache for many days afterward. Now I need to have surgery again. I am afraid ...