Accidental nerve blocks | Side effects of local anesthesia

Accidental nerve blocks

Should a nerve block occur during local anesthesia, this will not have serious consequences. Often the nerve blockage is caused by the nerve being washed around with the local anesthetic; the nerve itself is not damaged. In most cases, the nerve block merely leads to a greater spread of the anaesthetic, possibly with motor failure, which, however, usually disappears within a short time.

Side effects of tumescent local anesthesia

The specific side effects of tumescent local anesthesia are mainly due to the drugs used and the large volumes of local anesthetics. The large quantities of irrigation fluid injected during the procedure put additional strain on the body’s circulation and can lead to so-called hypervolemia, an increase in the volume of blood circulating in the bloodstream. This does not lead to an increase in blood volume, but only to a thinning of the blood, since the fluid injected also enters the bloodstream.

This additional strain on the bloodstream can be life-threatening, especially for patients with pre-existing heart and circulatory problems. Pulmonary edema – water in the lungs – can also occur as a severe complication of hypervolemia. In addition, there may be systemic toxicity of the local anaesthetic used or a systemic reaction to adrenaline resulting in severe cardiac arrhythmia.